OCTOBER 2021

 HALEE THE HEDGEHOG

Erika and I have have kept an eye on KSL for hedgehogs and found one for $80 down in Alpine that we were going to go get for her on Friday!  She was super excited and I was excited for her.  The lady I was texting about it didn't answer very quickly so I started to get worried about whether she was really going to be there or not and Alpine is a long ways away, so I got a little nervous and started looking some more on KSL.  I found one in West Valley for $150 and desperately texted to ask if we could pay just $100 realizing that driving to Alpine in the van was going to cost me at least the extra $20, so it would kind of even out.  Surprisingly, and I feel a little guilty that I did this, because I hate it when people aske me to do a lower price, but she said yes!!  We were thrilled!  Saved us at least an hour and half of driving with a Jack and Molly who were both very done being in the car even back as we passed Bountiful!  So we were able to shorten our trip and go get a female (the others were males) in West Valley.  We talked about how she doesn't have to get this one and I wanted her to really like it, so if she didn't to just ask if we could see a different one, and we had  it all planned out, but when she got her little hedgehog in her hands, she was so happy!  I'll never forget her cute little laughter of excitement as we left that smelly apartment.  She was "so happy!"  I was really impressed with the cute box the girl had made to send her home in along with a little information pamphlet, so cool!  They were really nice people and you could tell they really loved animals!  It was a fun drive home where Erika just sat and admired her new little friend and every little movement she made.  So cute!  She named her Halee (like Halle).  We're all very obsessed and everyone loves looking at her.  It hit me what a special little person Erika is to love something like a hedgehog so much and want to care for one.  They are super cute, don't get me wrong, I just think they are not super cuddly!  They don't love you back for the most part.  Kind of like a porcupine :).  But she puts so much thought and love and effort into these little creatures.  It just shows me that she is very mature and knows how to love.  Kinda cool realization.  10-1-21

PULLED PORK SANDWICHES

Nate reopened the SMOKED shop!  We did Pulled Pork Sandwiches this Friday.  He'd had a catering order for the KJH PTA on Wednesday so he just made sure he had enough for that and the orders that came in for Friday!  Pretty smart! We had 26 orders which was pretty great!  So grateful for the people who order.  10-1-21

HIGH PRIEST QUORUM DINNER

Wives were invited to the guys' dinner this year.  Kind of interesting.  Had no idea what we were in for, but it ended up being a really nice evening.  I really hated wearing masks and I was still so tired from the night before, but it was a great night.  The bread pudding from Kneaders looked amazing!  So proud of myself for avoiding it though!  10-1-21

GENERAL CONFERENCE WEEKEND

Even though we had to work around three soccer games this year, we had an awesome conference!!  Everyone did really well with little bribery.  I mean I guess Nate did kind of clean out the snack/treat section at Costco, but we didn't really go all out at all to try to entertain anyone and they all just sat there.  It was nice.  I think next time I will be more diligent with Molly and Jack, they were very distracted by the end of each session, but overall- we did good!  The talks were amazing!  I loved thinking about the pure truths, doctrine and revelation as Pres. Nelson suggested.  I loved the focus on Christ and being closer to Him.  I loved so many talks.  It was fun for all of us that Brad Wilcox spoke and we loved his talk.  It was interesting that he was talking about us not being perfect and that worthiness is not flawlessness and I feel like that was the perfect way to say what I have been thinking and prompted to think about this past few weeks.  It was really cool.  Somehow he always manages to touch my heart.  Such a great man.  It was fun for the teens to hear from him since they just met him last month at their Youth Conference!  So that was cool.  I loved getting Charity's texts about loving the second session Sunday so much.  It's cool that she reached out to us and cool that she was enjoying it so much.  I hope I never forget Sadie's hand-clapping, squealing as she hurriedly scurries up the stairs excitement when I told her that yes, we could go to the temple right then.  At the end of the first Sunday session she asked if we could go to the temple now (Pres. Nelson had announced that there are some more changes in the temple so Nate and I had talked about wanting to go soon and our appointment to do so and she had asked me then if she could come, "I come?" like she does.  I had said yes, just to see her happy :), so she was remembering that).  We all hopped in the car at her request and went to the new temple to see the recent progress.  It's really coming along!  We're so excited!!  It was fun to hear about the progress on the Salt Lake Temple.  Wish I lived closer so that if there is an earthquake we could go in it :).  Just kidding.  I loved talking with the kids a little afterwards.  Erika said she is going to make her prayers more meaningful so she can be closer to Heavenly Father.  I love her thinking of what she can do!  Nobody else had thought of anything yet.  For me- I am going to use what I learned about sacrifice being "to make something holy" to help me deal with the sacrifices I have to make each day with Nate's calling.  Hopefully that helps!  It was a great conference.  We have plans to study each talk for our Sunday evening study from now on.  Hopefully that works too :).  10-2-21--10-3-21

GRANDPA'S HOUSE

Also at Sadie's request, we made our way up to Grandpa's house Sunday night.  We learned all about Tom Brady and watched some football.  Ate all the snacks.  Talked with Grandpa.  And Erika finished her poster for running for student council!  Thankfully grandpa had some packing tape he let her use.  It was a fun time.  I only wish Sadie and Molly were not so shy.  But good times!  10-3-21

STUDENT COUNCIL- ERIKA

Erika and Kelly put a lot of work into her poster!  It was a fun idea that everyone kind of helped her with together.  We assumed they were going to do skits so she was going to use the throwing out the candy bars idea that someone did a few years ago.  Of course the year that we have the perfect idea for the skit is the one year they DIDN'T do them.  But I was so proud of Erika!  She worked really hard on the poster, got really excited about it all, then rolled with the punches so well when they just had her hand her poster up in the hallway.  She did so good!  Then all of her hard work and good attitude paid off election day Friday when SHE MADE IT!!  Pretty exciting!!  Erika is the first one in our family to make it!!  Pretty proud of her!  I loved Mrs. Burns' email telling me she made it and to sign the permission, she said, "A well-deserved victory"!  We're really excited for her.  She was very happy with her win, but also really sad for her friends who didn't make it and spent the first hour home from school, making and delivering little gifts of treats to Kate and Morgan.  She is such a good friend.  So proud of her!!  10-3-21--10-8-21

MONDAY

I just have to document how amazing Monday was.  It was the most productive, relaxing, fun, enjoyable day I've had in a very long time.  Everything went SO WELL!  Because Sadie and Molly played together so well, I was able to prep dinners for the week!  This was amazing.  I got TONS of laundry done and revamped our laundry system.  I worked on some other projects that I've been wanting to work on.  I was able to play with my girls and read to them a ton.  It was just amazing.  I was in follow the Spirit mode.  I wasn't focused on doing what I wanted but then I got so many things done!  It was awesome.  I really loved it.  10-4-21

FHE

Family night this week we were all wowed by Jack's ability to wing it with his lesson!  He put us in groups and assigned us each a story from the scriptures, then asked us to talk about them and how we would use those today.  It ended up being really cool!  And they all had a similar message which was amazing!  I don't know if he meant to do that but I was totally impressed!  We played garbage for Molly's game.  Then had Hi-Chews for Sadie's treat :).  Nobody was too thrilled about either of these, but the two girls were in heaven over it :).  10-4-21

BRAD'S LAST RACE

We went and watched Brad run his last race for the season.  He did such a great job!  I was so proud of him.  He didn't get a PR, so he was disappointed, but he did great!!  It's been a good season.  He's anxious to get on with Track I think.  10-5-21

LIFETIME PHOTO SHOOT

Last week Shalane called me to see if Brad and Luke would be interested in doing a photo shoot for Lifetime Products.  This was a really sweet opportunity where they would get paid $50 to play basketball basically :).  So we were looking forward to doing that Wednesday.  Well, Tuesday, while I was at Brad's race, she called to see if they could fill in for the Tuesday shoot they had planned because people had canceled.  She wanted Nate and all the kids this time!  So that was really cool, but took quite a bit of finagling!  I was planning on going to dinner with Courtney so I asked my mom to babysit and made a few other arrangements before sending them all off with their few choices of clothing.  They had a good time.  It wasn't exactly "playing" basketball, but it wasn't horrible and it only took about an hour-- we decided 50 bucks an hour is pretty decent!  So then Wednesday they wanted them all back again and they all went and did it again!  $100 each!  Pretty awesome!  (assuming they get paid soon)  10-5-21--10-6-21

DINNER WITH COURTNEY

Courtney and I met up at Twigs for dinner.  This was pretty fun.  It felt like we had to do a lot of catching up, but it was fun to be with her.  Lots of interesting conversation.  She wanted to hear about all of my family and we got to talk about her mom and her cool experience when she got her job and felt her mom's presence with the butterfly- so cool!!  I was so glad she shared that with me.  It was a good time.  I hope we can do it again soon!  10-5-21

ANNIVERSARY OF WHEN WE MET

Wednesday was the 21st anniversary of when Nate and I met.  Such a cool little moment in time.  Kinda crazy to think that my one decision to go to Brent's reunion- and it was so strange that I was so okay with going to that!  That was not my kind of thing- but that one decision and such a little thing it was- had such a pivotal effect on my life!!  I am so lucky to have Nate.  I feel so blessed that we have been able to create the life we have.  Heavenly Father has spoiled us.  I had no idea our life would turn out so great!!  I love you, Nate!  I'm so glad I met you 21 years ago!!  10-6-21

BASKETBALL TRYOUTS

Noah put his whole heart into basketball tryouts this week and last.  We were all pretty devastated that he didn't make it, but he handled it so well.  I'm really proud of him for trying even though we all know it's impossible to get on the team if you are not on the coach's comp team, or friends with his son.  Kind of stupid and I wish it wasn't like that, but I'm glad Noah was tough and didn't let it get him down too much.  He's such a good kid.  10-6-21

PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCE DINNER

This dinner was interesting.  We did the pulled pork sandwiches then I had other ladies help with the sides and desserts.  We didn't even start out with that much food, but ended up with a ton of leftovers.  So weird.  It was fine though.  Thankfully the sandwiches were a big hit.  Can't go wrong with Nate's pulled pork.  I met the librarian while I was setting up- she's really nice!  My kids have really enjoyed her.  She was really fun to talk to about kids and big families.  It was fun.  Fun stuff.  10-6-21

BRADLEY'S BIRTHDAY

Bradley woke up to an amazing Kelly sign.  I was so happy she came home the night before and made the sign.  She does such a cute job.  It was adorable.  We all sat there in awe at the bleachers she drew.  I love making the signs too, I just think she does a way better job.  Brad loved it.  We had Puffy Pancake at his request for breakfast.  I hate that my kids have to go to school on their birthdays.  Everyone should get their birthday off!  He went to XC as usual, but when he came out to his car he found.... drumroll please... his mom and sisters sticking sticky notes to it!  How thrilling is that :).  We were so bummed he got done early!!  We had wanted to surprise him.  It still looked good and was a lot of fun to do, but a little bit of a bummer that he caught us doing it.  We came home and he was able to rest a little bit.  It started raining so Flag Football was out, which was a total bummer for Brad, he loves flag football.  Then he really just kind of bummed around a lot of the evening, napping in between opening presents and different things.  He got a nut roaster and all the stuff to use that.  As well as some more cotton candy stuff!  Not that we thought he would want that, we were just there at Orson Gygi's.  He was a good sport about the evening and how packed it was with other stuff.  It was nice that Nate and I were able to take him to Tucanos that night- and I mean NIGHT- we walked through the revolving doors at about 8:45!  It was such a nice time with him.  We got to talk a lot and eat a lot.  The waitress knew him and was fun to talk to and was so nice to him.  Then our other waitress was so smart to offer dessert and stuff- it was a lot of fun.  I loved it!  It's been a long time since Bradley got to go to dinner with just the two of us.  We were able to give him a wad of cash to go with his other presents.  Hopefully he spends it wisely.  It was nice though, I loved it.  Late, but really nice!  10-7-04

THE HEART AND VASCULAR INSTITUTE- KELLY

This was yet another interesting attempt to figure out what is wrong with Kelly.  I hope the internist has some other ideas besides this, but we went and they did an ultrasound on Kelly's legs, then (thankfully I said something and reminded them she was supposed to get a heart monitor too, because they had missed that) she got a heart monitor to wear for two weeks.  I really don't have a lot of hope in this idea.  I was really set on it being rheumatology and now everything else feels silly.  BUT doesn't mean I'm right.  We will see.  I kind of think we are going to have to get weird to fix this pain.  A voodoo doctor or something.  I don't know.  Hopefully not.  But we'll see.  10-7-04

PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCES

We had the best time at all of our conferences on Thursday.  We went to Mrs. Burns first.  She let us come in person even though most of hers were online.  She was so happy about Erika.  She loves her so much!  She was just beaming about the whole her having these kids six years ago and having them now as sixth graders.  Pretty cool really.  I think she really loved this group.  Mostly Erika :).  She showed us all of Erika's awesome scores and talked about where she's at.  She's doing great obviously and just has a few areas she could improve.  She needs to get her comprehension numbers up- if we're going to nitpick- and I think that's funny because that's what I was always needing to work on too :).  But overall, she's doing great!!  Mrs. Burns just loves her.  

Then we went to Jack's teacher, Mrs. Hewett (well, I almost stopped in Mrs. Piper's room on accident.  So flaky these days!), she is so nice and such a good teacher.  She showed us where Jack is at and what he can work on and then talked about all the great things he is in their class.  I loved it!!  He loved it too I think :).  It's fun to have such good kids that these meetings are really fun.  We were so proud of him.  

Then it was Molly's turn.  She told me she was scared and didn't want to do it right before.  She's SO SHY in there!!  She sat there stone faced, didn't look at Mrs. Piper at all, and was just really super shy the entire conference.  Which was funny because she is doing SO GOOD!!  Even Mrs. Piper is shocked at how quickly she has learned everything!  We are both so proud of how quickly she's been reading and how much she loves it.  But Molly wouldn't crack a smile.  Kinda funny, but a little weird.  Hopefully she loosens up a little soon.  It was a great conference though.  She's already past the end of year benchmarks.  Cool little girl.  10-7-21

VOLLEYBALL

We had our second volleyball game Thursday.  We didn't get as many girls there, but everyone had good excuses (HA!).  Luckily we had six.  But we got out there and totally killed the other team!  It was so much fun!!  Even beat them in the tie-breaker half game!!  I was so happy!  They have already improved so much!!  Christie and I were better this week now that it wasn't our first week.  10-7-21

BRIGHAM CITY TEMPLE- ERIKA

Morgan invited Erika to go bright and early at 6:15 to do baptisms at the Brigham City temple with her on Friday morning.  It worked out perfectly that she didn't have play practice OR orchestra.  Cool little blessing.  I hadn't noticed that they were going to the Brigham City temple not the Bountiful until she sent some pictures of them in a text.  No wonder they took so long ;).  Kinda funny.  She had a great time and got to experience a different temple!  SO cool.  10-8-21

FUN FRIDAY IN JACK'S CLASS

We got to go to Jack's class to do Fun Friday!  We brought the big ball of saran wrap and treats and prizes this time.  His class seemed to have a lot of fun with it.  It was fun that Kelly came for a little of it and Jack was beaming which was fun.  I had to leave early to go do centers in Molly's class, but Nate stayed and finished up the game and then played heads up seven up with them!  Good stuff.  10-8-21

RACE CATS RACE- CANCELLED

We were so bummed that the rain ruined our Race Cats race.  We're hoping they don't put the race on a day we can't do it.  10-8-21

BRAD'S FRIEND PARTY

It was so hard for Brad to come up with something for his friend party this year.  Went through a few different ideas.  But settled on taking 9 of them to TopGolf and then having a bunch over that night for pizza and treats.  TopGolf went pretty well once we were there.  Luke and I went early to get our name on the list.  It was a 1 1/2-2 hour wait which was crazy.  Luke and I had to go to Panda Express to kill some time. Then we were glad they had pool and shuffle board and foos ball while we waited.  We ended up getting two bays by about 8:00.  He was bummed when the girl he likes was in the different bay, so I made everyone shake it up and moved them around :) HA!  That was funny.  But it all went really well.  They had a good time.  I was glad Kelly and Luke had been invited.  Even though Kelly didn't get to play.  Nate and I hovered and then played some games of shuffle board and then got some Mo 'bettas before realizing I needed to get back to pick up Erika and Kate at the party they were at.  So I RACED home for that.  That was actually kind of cool- I think the Spirit reminded me of the party.  I don't know why else I would have thought of it.  Pretty cool.  Once I had Erika and dropped off Kate we went and got some cupcakes and pizzas.  I was glad I got the five I did- they were gone almost instantly!  Then a bunch of Brad's other friends showed up and everyone crammed themselves into the family room for loud fun :).  I hope they all had fun.  It was fun to watch and fun to have them all here.  Even if we didn't get to bed til 12:30!  10-8-21

A FREE SATURDAY

All of the soccer games were cancelled this Saturday (are you catching this- three days of pretty heavy raining!  Kinda cool!) so we were handed a free day!  I feel like we made the most of it.  We played, then deep cleaned the family room which took about three times longer than I'd planned.  Luckily we got it all done by 2:00 when Brad's family party started.  But we must have overdone it this week because we forgot to do our Fun Saturday stuff.  I was bummed when I realized that.  But we were pretty tired.  It was a nice day.  10-9-21

BRAD'S FAMILY PARTY

We had nestled Brad's family party in between all the soccer games that day so when they were cancelled it was kind of a weird time of day to have it :).  But we had a great turn out- Grandpa Hatch, Grandma Hatch, Grandma Ruthie, Aunt Becky, Aunt Jen, and the Taylors all came!  We had leftover cupcakes from the night before.  I pooped out on the ones I was going to make.  I feel bad about that, but I was just so burnt out this week!  It was a good time.  Bradley got some cool gifts and a lot of cash.  He seemed happy with the attention and was very sweet, hugging everyone and just being really respectful!  Almost like he's growing up or something!  So crazy that he is 17!  I just have to try not to think about it!  I mean, I actually really love who he is turning out to be.  I don't think I could have imagined half of the stuff he has done with his life already, so no complaints there.  He really is such a good, hard-working, tough, funny, loving kid!!  I don't think my life would be the same without him.  I really love that we are friends.  He's such a good boy.  I hope he had a good three day birthday this year and feels very loved!  10-9-21

MAYNES FAMILY HALLOWEEN DINNER

We were slightly disappointed that the Halloween party had been reduced to just a dinner on a Sunday night before the family meeting, but it still ended up being a lot of fun.  We'd had the plan to bring mummy lil' smokies, but realized later that we really didn't have time to do that and they wouldn't stay warm on the drive.  So we just did the spider cookies and bat donuts :).  They turned out really cute. The dinner was good, the meeting was short! and everyone seemed to have a lot of fun with the family and we got home at a pretty decent hour.  Thanks for the party Becky!  10-10-21

FHE

Erika taught our lesson on tithing.  She did a great job.  I love that she does it all on her own!  We played telephone for Jack's game and had hot chocolate for Molly's treat :).  10-11-21

NOAH'S FALL CONCERT

This was a new one for us, we haven't had an orchestra concert in a while.  We got to hear Noah play his bass with everyone- this was really cool to watch!  I loved all of his songs coming to life with their melodies, but it was also so fun to know that the bass line was created by him!  He even got a little shout out from his teacher for having just started the bass three months ago!  Very cool!  I loved it.  10-12-21

POCATELLO TRIP

We actually had something planned for Fall break this time!  I was so happy!  We had decided to go up to the Pocatello Temple Open house and thought it would be fun to make a mini-cation out of it. We went up Thursday, around 11:00 (it was really nice to feel a little relaxed all weekend and be able to sleep in and not feel rushed).  We stopped in Logan to pick up Kelly and go to lunch with Charity and Isaac.  That was a fun little Costa Vida lunch.  It was nice to see Charity for a bit- she wasn't able to come up to Idaho with us because of work and school.  We got up to the temple an hour later than our tickets, but nobody even asks for tickets, so that was nice.  We got up to the church we were being shuttled from and rode the bus over to the beautiful Pocatello Temple!  There was a beautiful spirit the minute I stepped out of the bus.  I loved thinking about my grandparents being there and loving that it was in their hometown.  And it was fun to take my kids to another temple and be able to show them things and talk about things.  I LOVE that Sadie was so excited to be there.  I was also grateful that Nate carried her through most of it, ooohing and aaahhing over all the flowers and stairs and lights and you name it- he's so good at that.  I did get to spend some time with her near the end, but it was fun that she loved it so much.  She loves temples and now she finally got to go inside.  Molly too, was excited to be IN the temple.  She thought it was really pretty.  Jack was in the back with me most of the tour.  He seemed genuinely interested in a lot of it and I loved being able to answer some of his questions and tell him some special things.  This temple seemed smaller than others, but was so beautiful still.  I loved the pink flowers.  It was fun that my mom had told me they were native to Pocatello.  Erika was very impressed with everything but also as a regular temple goer now, she was also very comfortable and knew what to expect I think.  It was fun to see her in the baptismal font area.  Noah, Luke, Brad and Kelly were all regulars as well and I didn't get a lot out of them during it except that they loved how it looked, they loved how they felt and talked about how much they loved the celestial room.  It was beautiful.  Reminded me of the Bountiful temple, just smaller.  It's fun to think that they will all be going through the temple soon and receiving those blessings and making sacred covenants before we know it.  Especially Kelly.  This got her really excited to go through soon.  Such a neat experience.  After the temple we went to our hotel, the Marriott, received a sweet little miracle of only paying half of what we thought we were going to pay.  I guess the room we'd gotten was flooded so they gave us two for the price of half!  Pretty cool.  Such a blessing.  Then quickly got our swim suits on and went swimming!  The kids had a blast swimming even though the pool was a little small.  I was surprised we lasted as long as we did, and I think if we had eaten dinner first we would have lasted longer.  But we did get hungry.  I loved the evening, we just laid around watching tv together and talking.  I really miss being able to do that more with the big kids.  They just disappear so fast everyday.  But this was nice.  Nate ordered Buffalo Wild Wings and picked it up with Kelly.  It totally hit the spot!  In the morning, we slept in!  Which was awesome.  Then got our free breakfast!  Which was also very awesome.  And then bummed around a little more :).  We turned on Wonder and vegged.  I loved it :).  By about 10:30 it was time to head out.  It was nice that we weren't too pressed for time.  We stopped at the cemetery to see Grandma and Grandpa Mottishaw's headstones and then found Grandma and Grandpa Stowell's as well.  That was cool.  I miss them all so much.  I wish my kids could have known them better.  Then we drove to Logan, got some lunch at Five Guys, then dropped off Charity's food and Kelly.  It was short, but so sweet.  Then hurried home to get Nate off to work.  And it was over :).  I sure loved this little trip.  Made me happy.  10-14-21--10-15-21

THE REST OF FALL BREAK

The kids played with their friends most of the day Friday.  We have been watching all of the Avengers movies in order so we did that for our movie night (much to Noah's dismay- he's really been wanting to watch Greenland for some reason).  Then Saturday we spent a HUGE part of the day cleaning up the crawl space.  This was a huge job.  It felt like something we needed to get done though.  Nate and a few of the kids took a van load of Heidi's stuff up to my dad's and then another van load to the D.I. a little later.  I was in the back of the room, hunched over, kind of directing where everything goes.  Hopefully it is organized enough that we can find things and that it will be a useful space.  Jack and I organized all of his toys on one side so that he can get to his stuff easier and have a place for all of it.  Then I reorganized Sadie's toys so that some of them could go downstairs and ease up on her room.  It was a huge project!! But we finished it in time to go swimming!  The kids and I (minus Luke, Charity and Kelly) all went up to Clearfield Aquatic center and swam our little hearts out.  I thought it would be fun to go to a place with a slide since our hotel had been a little skimpy in the pool department.  We had fun.  Well, most of us did.  Sadie was super cranky most of the time.  I loved watching Molly swim around in her little life jacket, she really looks like she'd be a great swimmer!  I need to get her some lessons so she is more confident in the pool.  Jack and Brad were by the basketball hoop most of the time.  They had some run ins with some strange kids, but for the most part had a good time.  Poor Jack got too much water splashed in his eyes by one kid, so his eyes hurt all the way home.  Noah and Erika spent a lot of time on the diving board and playing a game where they were hiding from each other- it was cute to watch them.  I loved watching all four of them playing basketball together and I loved going on the big yellow slide a few times with Molly and a few times with Sadie.  Good stuff!  At home we turned on Thor Dark World.  It was a good fall break.  10-15-21--10-16-21

DINNER AT MOM'S

We went to my mom's for dinner tonight.  We've had it scheduled and rescheduled for the past month, but we finally did it!  We had yummy orange chicken and rice.  The kids were really good and had some fun there, I think.  Kelly was playing with a card game my mom had out and was quizzing Jack and Erika and Molly on things the Prophets have said.  It was pretty cute.  We got to see Heidi, Porter and Alyssa which was fun, but Heidi is still mad at me, so she wasn't talking much and spent most of the time in the other room.  I wish I knew how to fix that.  Other than that, it was a great time.  10-17-21

SIMPLE THINGS

I got all warm and fuzzy on the way home from my mom's, listening to my kids in the back.  Molly was singing "twinkle twinkle little star" to Sadie and everyone else was giggling and laughing about Kelly's quotes.  Just a fun little peaceful moment.  I like these.  10-17-21

PERFORMANCE WEEK

This was the big week Jack and Erika have been preparing for!  It was a big one!  They had dress rehearsal, tech rehearsal, the assembly and performances Friday and Saturday.  I had setting up the poles and drapes, and set with Nate.  Then "backstage running" (the most pointless, waste of time I think I've had in years.  This is counting my covid isolation) twice for me.  It was a lot of fun (minus the backstage running), and a lot of work, but well worth it!  10-18-21--10-23-21

FHE

Noah taught our lesson on Joseph's time in Liberty jail.  We all sat on the rug huddled together and he tied us all up... it was pretty good analogy to many other things.  I liked that he came up with this on his own.  We had Star Crunch for the treat and played four corners for Erika's game.  10-18-21

MOLLY AND ERIKA RACE

Molly ran in her very first Race Cats race on Tuesday.  She did such a great job!  Her time for her 1K was 4:55.  She got first place for the girls her age which was awesome!  Jack chose to stay at his dress rehearsal... just not feeling it I guess.  Erika was able to sneak away for her race which I thought was pretty cool that she went to all the trouble to make that happen.  Even asked her director herself!  We had to hurry and pick her up after Molly's and run her up to the park.  She was still in her makeup and hair for the play, so that was cute ;).  She ran her little heart out and came in first in her age for girls also!  I wish I had written down her time.  Hers was a 3K.  I was so proud of our girls!  They did great!  10-19-21

CUTE GIRLS

Out of nowhere Molly says, "I want to play in my room".  And Sadie quickly added, "I wanna come!" To which Molly sweetly replied, "You can come, Sadie!"  Such a sweet big sister.  I love how these two are learning to interact a little more lately.  Molly is super patient with Sadie.  10-19-21

SADIE CLIMBING INTO HER CRIB 

Tuesday night Sadie and I had a lot of fun singing our song "Twinkle Dar" for everyone on Marco Polo :).  It was so cute because Sadie almost knows all the words.  She gets into it with me and we look up at her glow in the dark stars while we do it, but we wanted to share it with Daddy, Charity and Kelly on Marco Polo :).  She loved it.  She kept wanting to do it for Erika :).  Then she wanted to show me her cool new trick!  She demonstrated how she can climb into her crib a few times for me and for the camera- it was super cute!  She's really growing up!  Not sure we can keep her in a crib too much longer!  10-19-21

MORNINGSIDE

I was so proud of the boys for getting up a little early on their late start day to go to the Morningside.  Meg Johnson.  She is awesome, they said it was pretty much the same talk she gave a few years ago, but they liked it!  I was just so happy they made that sacrifice.  Good boys.  10-20-21

WARD WALKABOUT

We finally had a ward walkabout!  Everyone was so happy about it :).  We had dinner a little late, so we only hit two of the houses, but it was really nice.  I enjoyed talking with Diane Hill a little about Heidi and then Barbara and Sarah at the Last's were also kind of therapeutic to talk to about COVID and masks and stuff.  That was really nice.  10-20-21

LUKE CHOIR CONCERT

I was so happy I was able to leave my pointless job at the play to go see Luke in his concert!  I love choir concerts.  They just take me back :).  I went and saved seats for Nate and the kids this time.  They were fun to have there.  We watched the bell choir and the girls' choir before Luke and during the girls songs Molly looks at me and says her usual, "I'm bored!"  To which I told her I was okay with that, but then she looked back up at me and very slowly said, "There. is. nothing. fun. about. this."  It made me laugh so hard!  Something about the way the words came out so slow and the sentence just kept going... hilarious :).  But I think she did enjoy Luke's songs cuz she stopped whining during those.  Luke is in the Men's choir this year.  He doesn't love it.  I wish that wasn't the case.  I hope he continues just because I know how much he loves to sing and how good he is.  We'll see.  10-21-21

MOLLY RACE

Molly had her second race this week as well (thanks to the rain last week, the other one was rescheduled to this week).  She was the only one who could go since Erika and Jack were in their performance that day, but she did so good!  She got second place this time.  Her time was 5:05 on her 1K.  Way to go Molly!  I think she actually likes it!  10-22-21

FRIDAY PERFORMANCE

Friday night was our first time watching all of the Frozen play!  I was so excited!!  Nate and I, with Molly and Sadie on our laps sat in the very front row.  Bradley, Luke, Noah and Grandma Hatch sat a few rows back and Grandma Ruthie and Becky sat in the very back (while their seats on Row C sat empty).  It was such a great show!!  They did so good!  I was SO beyond impressed with Erika's part as Middle Elsa.  She is such a good actress!  Even Emily mentioned how well she sold her sadness!  We were all feeling a little choked up when the King had to leave!  But really, she did so good!  Then she and Jack both did such a cute job on all the singing and dancing throughout the whole play!  They were both on the stage almost the entire show!  Pretty awesome!  We loved watching Jack get into it and his waves to Sadie and Molly throughout :).  Such a fun night!  We went to Panda Express for some dinner and to celebrate after.  As well as getting ice cream cones from Burger King to celebrate Molly's race :).  Fun night!  10-22-21

SOAKING SOCCER GAMES

Our canceled soccer games were rescheduled for this Saturday and despite the rain- they played!  It was a freezing cold and very wet two hours of soccer watching (and playing) for Nate, Bradley, Erika, Noah and I, but oh so fun!  Noah did amazing as goalie the first half and played really hard during the second.  Their team was doing so well, it was 0 - 0 until the last five minutes (for which I didn't get to watch because I went over to Erika's game with her) when the other team scored three points!  I couldn't believe it!  Kinda glad I missed that.  Poor Noah was a little bummed after.  Erika's game was a little bit of a challenge in the beginning, but Erika came back from the other team's goal with a quick one herself!  Then a few more followed.  She looked really happy out there and seemed to really be having a lot of fun.  That was fun for us to watch even though we were drenched!  Good job guys on a great soccer season!  10-23-21

SATURDAY PERFORMANCE

Our second showing of Frozen did not disappoint!  It was a lot of fun again!  I was happy to have Charity, Kelly, my Dad and Molly there to watch it.  Jack was really hamming it up that night- might have been all the giggling and snorting he was getting from Charity and Kelly, and Grandpa's phone video-ing everything he did :).  He was hilarious.  Funny when he almost tripped, funny when he was dancing at the ball, funny when he was reacting to the shocking news from Prince Hans!  HA!  We got a good laugh or ten out of it all :).   Luckily Grandpa got some good footage :).  We had to go to DQ to celebrate over some ice cream and Biden size fries :).  Thanks to Luke for tending while I did the backstage running for Pink cast and thanks to Noah for tending Sadie during our show!  These boys are constantly sacrificing their weekends to babysit for us... very grateful for them!!  Good stuff!  10-23-21

SUNDAY BLESSINGS

We had a few cool things happen this Sunday that I wanna make sure we don't forget.  First- they took the dumb signs off every other row!!  We get to use all the soft seats now!  I'm so happy about it!!  A little concerned about needing to wear my mask now that we're closer to people, but that's when the second miracle comes in- Jay was welcoming at the door to the chapel and whispered to me that he hoped I would take my mask off cuz his wife wants company :).  HA!  Don't have to ask me twice!  Even just a slight suggestion to take it off and I'm there.  It was funny.  And I was relieved to not have to wear it.  Sacrament meeting was good- the Pedersons spoke and what I heard was great!  I was surprised I enjoyed their talks so much.  Sadie wasn't too happy so we were in the mother's lounge for a lot of it with her screaming.  She was so tired.  Luckily she fell asleep near the end and then slept through the rest of church.  This is the third miracle.  And it's a little weird where this one started because during the morning I had wondered if I'd be able to get her to sleep so I could go to RS.  Like the idea was planted in my mind.  And even though I didn't want to get my heart set on it, things just kept going in that direction, so I was glad I had realized that if she did fall asleep I would get some RS time!  So I carefully walked down the hall to RS.  Lisa caught up with me and complimented me on how I look- I'm so grateful for her and her compliments.  I think most people are too scared to mention it since it came and went so quickly last time.  But that really changed my mood and made my day.  She and I sat together on the front row, without our masks.  Two of six people who were not wearing them in that very full room.  It was nice to have her next to me.  I was a lot more relaxed.  And her funny face when Janell mentioned that COVID is serious and very contagious in her comment that had nothing to do with covid :).  It hit me pretty hard, and I think it was the Spirit telling me that Heavenly Father had made this moment happen- this opportunity to go to RS was because of Him and it was a little gift/miracle for me.  I needed that and He knew I needed it.  It had been a pretty rough week so it was nice that I was able to recharge a little.  Not that I don't love nursery with Sadie, it just doesn't quite do the same thing for me.  This was a huge blessing.  When Sadie woke up at the end of the lesson she was asking for nursery so I hurried out of the room and took her up for a few seconds of bubbles and balloons :).  She loved it and doesn't really know that she didn't get nursery!  So win win.  This day was a beautiful reminder that Heavenly Father is there.  That he loves us.  He really knows us.  I am so grateful for that knowledge.  That was one of the truths we heard in the conference talk we studied after church as well, which I was also really happy about because we had wanted to do that every Sunday.  This was our first one :).  10-24-21

DINNER WITH CLAIRE

I broke ranks and moved FHE to Tuesday night this week so that I could go out to dinner with Claire on her birthday!  We had so much fun!  We met up at Gardner Village to go to Archibald's and it was an hour wait so we just kind of walked around for a bit.  We like to talk more than we like to window shop, but we had some fun.  She is always fun to talk to.  I loved hearing her stories and drama with her calling as RS President.  We walked to my car to get her gift and she liked the picture I got her and then walked over to her car to put it in and get her gifts she wanted to re-gift to me HA!  That was funny.  Sadie will love them though, she's right.  We finally got into the restaurant about an hour later than planned, but had some more fun talking and eating.  I am so grateful for Claire.  I love that she is my friend and that we are able to hang out still.  She is such a good example.  I loved when we were talking about the shows we like to watch and she had one that she was really into but found out it was going to get "a little darker" and she just said, "I'm out!"  And that's a hard thing to do.  I just really appreciate the person she is and the things she does.  She's so cool.  So happy I got to hang out with her on her birthday.  10-25-21

CRAFT WITH GRANDMA

Grandma Hatch came over Tuesday to do a little craft with the girls while the big kids were at school.  They seemed like they had a good time painting the pumpkins and putting it all together.  It was fun of her to give them that kind of attention.  Maybe next time Molly will talk a little.  10-26-21

PUMPKIN CARVING

We finally settled on Tuesday night to do our pumpkin carving.  It was hard because we knew Charity and Kelly weren't going to be able to be there.  We are having to learn how to do things without them.  It's hard.  Everyone is part of these traditions.  But we did have a good time!  We went up to Walmart and got our pumpkins along with some ice cream sandwiches for the treat.  Then came home had some dinner and got right to work!  I loved watching everyone and reminiscing in my mind about how they've all changed over the years with this tradition.  Everyone has evolved in some way :).  Everyone, except Sadie who I helped, did their own designs and carved their own pumpkins!  There was no crying or upset kids the whole night which is kind of new.  We ended up with two pans of sunflower seeds to be baked for our party Thursday.  Everyone helped clean up!  I loved it!!  10-26-21

JACK ACTIVITY DAYS

Jack got to decorate pumpkin cookies with all his friends :).  I loved the pic they sent.  It sounded like he had a great time.  10-27-21

BLOG BOOK 2020

It's been really funny to work on my blog book for 2020 and see how much my opinions and approach to COVID has changed.  I am glad that we are no longer scared and glad that we've been able to carry on as usual since then, but kind of funny to think about how I was in the beginning.  10-27-21

HALLOWEEN PARADE

The Elementary school parade looked a little different this year!  I kind of liked the change.  We did it outside on the track instead of the cafeteria.  I was a little bummed there weren't as many people sitting nearby to talk to, but it was a lot more comfortable and probably a little more exciting for the kids.  It was definitely more covid friendly, if we're trying to cut down on germ sharing, but that matters very little to me until I think about how that will effect our immune systems.  But it was a lot of fun to watch for our three little kiddos.  I think Molly came around first.  She looked so cute.  She is good at playing the part of a school kid :).  Then Jack.  He looked awesome.  Did his Frankenstein walk.  Then Erika and she was clearly an unruly sixth grader at the moment, stopped for a photo op with her counterparts, holding up the line no doubt and then running to jump back in.  It was a lot of fun.  We did get to stand by Lisa and visited with Jami and Layne a little too.  It was a fun time!  Glad that the ambulance was there for a seizure that happened on the bus and not something more serious.  10-28-21

HALLOWEEN PARTY

We didn't get enough of a party this Halloween and decided to take matters into our own hands.  It was a struggle and we never could get a day Charity could come, but Thursday was it.  I wasn't really sure about what to do, but the kids made me feel like it didn't really matter :).  So I went the easy route on games and stuff.  Nate, however, did not take the easy route on the food!  He went ALL out!!  Prepared five different kinds of smoked meats and wowed us with it all in the form of a dead body on the table!  We saw a picture of this once and finally were able to pull it off.  I thought he did a great job!  The meat was amazing.  Especially the ribs.  We ate, played the eyeball toss game :).  Which ended up being a lot of fun.  I pulled out a little cauldron I am planning to use for saint patrick's day and they spent most of the time trying to throw the ping pong balls into the tiny cauldron.  It was fun.  Then the Hanted Forest!  We went over to the Maughan's to enjoy that for a few minutes.  I felt bad we couldn't stay longer, but we still had a few things left to do.  We got back and played the candy bar game (with things much larger and more exciting than candy bars) then the donut on a string game.  It was a lot of fun.  I was surprised at how much fun the kids had and all the thanks they kept pouring out.  I loved it!  A new tradition I think.  I asked the kids for the highlights from the evening here's what I got:

When Molly made it into the pumpkin- Luke

The tiny cauldron- Noah

When Sadie made it in the bowl- Noah

Kelly's tantrum- Noah (Kelly had picked the Good and Plenty because Nate and I spilled the beans a little about the money we put inside, so she really wanted it :) )

Molly holding the stick for the donut game- Luke (I think she was moving it all over the place.  Kinda funny)

Good and Plenty- Kelly

"Kelly got diarrhea-ed on!"- Noah (the maple icing)

Funny quote from the night- Kelly was sitting down next to Sadie and Brandon came over to sit by them and right then Kelly goes, "Dude you smell so bad!"  Brandon totally thought she was talking about him, it was hilarious!  Poor guy.  Has Sadie looking at him and crushing on him the whole time he's here and then that!  HA!  

I sure loved having everyone here and enjoying each other's company!  Good times!  10-28-21

EVAN MISSION PICTURES

Friday, Nate and I got up early to head up to Daybreak to take pictures of Evan at the Oquirrh Mountain Temple.  This was a lot of fun.  Evan was a good sport even with all my complaining about the sun.  It was cloudy ALL WEEK!  I thought for sure we'd get a cloudy day and could do it in the morning.  Unfortunately, even though it was really beautiful, it was full sun, not a cloud in the sky!  We needed to go a lot earlier with this type of lighting.  So that was a bummer, but we made do.  We did get a few really good ones and I loved re-creating a couple of his baptism ones.  I was grateful for Kelly's pose suggestions and glad that we had enough to send Nancy that afternoon :).  We're really excited for Evan!  I'm especially excited that he's going to the place my Grandpa Mottishaw is from and went on his mission.  I'm kind of hoping I can get ahold of his mission journals or something.  He would have loved this and would have wanted to meet Evan I think.  Too bad he's not here.  But can't wait to hear how it goes for Evan!  I think he'll be a great missionary!  10-29-21

LUKE FLYING WITH GRANDMA HATCH

Luke also woke up early on a day off to go flying with Grandma on Friday.  It took them a while to finally get on the plane and up in the air because Jason Judy's something had expired so he wasn't able to take them up.  But after a few hours of whatever, they were able to get up.  Luke sounded like he had a good time.  I got pictures of the Layton Temple from the sky from my mom.  Looked cool!  I hope he had a good time.  10-29-21

ERIKA AND THE STUDENT COUNCIL AT BOONDOCK'S

Erika got to go to Boondocks on Friday (it was a day off from school even!) and play with the other kids in the student council as well as the sixth grade teachers!  When I picked her up she had had a great time!  She had her little squishy s'more in hand.  It's good that they also get to do fun stuff along with all the work they do!!  So proud of Erika and all that she is doing right now.  10-29-21

STEVE

I had offered some leftover meat to Steve so he came over :).  This was a really nice visit.  We talked A LOT!!  We both were able to get some things off our chests and that was nice.  He's such a good brother to me.  I'm really grateful for him.  I wish I did more for him and wish I was better at the big sister thing, but he makes me happy and I appreciate that.  10-29-21

GAME ROOM

We are finally working on our game room.  About two years ago, I suggested that it could be a room that we use for board games and possibly a tv for video games where you can go with friends and not have to be with the whole house (the way our house is set up, this is difficult), and it has finally come time to do that!  We cleaned it all out, moved more boxes up to Grandpa's house, bought a nice rug and some fun bean bag chairs, a tv from the D.I. and Noah tipped over the bookshelf to use as a tv stand!  It's really starting to look like a game room!  I'm so happy :).  They seem to really like it as well.  They have spent a lot of time down there.  More than I thought they would :).  I learned how much I would miss having that noise and bonding right in front of my eyes in the family room.  I'm not sure why I wanted to do the game room now :).  But they are having fun with it so that is good.  I hope we can get it all comfy cozy soon.  10-29-21

RACE CATS BIG RACE

We had our final, HUGE race down in Taylorsville Saturday.  This is a big one.  The competition is tough!  We were ready though!  Molly went first, got 15th place out of 50ish girls her age, which I think is pretty darn good for her first year of race cats!  She was hoping for 3rd place (she got 1st at her first race, 2nd at her second race, so the pattern... cute little pattern girl).  Jack was next.  I could tell when they opened up the loop for his 3K that he was going to get a little discouraged running past the finish line for a second time around, and I think he did, but he pushed himself!  Especially at the finish line!  Came sprinting in!  I was really proud of him.  He kept asking me what place he got and because I was looking at the wrong one, I couldn't find his place, but eventually I did and just tried to keep quiet because I didn't want him to feel bad, but he kept asking me.  This was our conversation:

Jack: Mom, what place did I get?
Me: You got 141st!  
Jack (extremely disgusted): I did?
Me: That's okay, bud!  You did your best right?  You were faster than like 50 people!
Jack: Eh.  That's horrible.

Poor guy.  I think it's hard for him to use his desire to win to push him faster, I don't think the desire to win is strong enough.  Doesn't translate over.  It's all good though.  I'm really proud of him for sticking with Race Cats and going every week.  He hasn't complained at all this year!  Erika ran last and she did really really well!  She and Kate usually get 1st and 2nd but there was a girl this time who was like a minute ahead of them somehow!  I'm not even sure how she did that!  But She was some pretty good competition for the girls.  But Kate came in after her and Erika shortly after Kate.  So she was 3rd place!!  Pretty awesome!  We were very proud of these kids!!  Had to go to Leatherby's after to celebrate!  10-30-21

GRANDPA'S HOUSE

After getting faces painted, saying goodbye to Nate and costumes on, we all went up to Grandpa Hatch's house to visit him.  It was fun to show him our costumes and visit for a few minutes.  We had to deliver the Salmon dip from two nights ago.  He was happy about that.  It was a nice time.  We need to do that more often.  Sadie loved looking through the Amazon catalog he had there and walked out with it like it was her baby, leaving her doll she brought just sitting on his couch.  10-30-21

TRICK-OR-TREATING

We had a pretty good time trick-or-treating this year!  We were all a little underwhelmed with the number of kids we had with us this year.  We've lost so many!!  Charity was up at school.  Kelly was on her way, but not quite here.  Brad was getting ready for a party.  Luke showed up right at the last minute and got in the picture but he spent the evening with Jaxx and Josh at Jaxx's house.  And Noah was off with a big group (not by choice- he had wanted a small group of three friends and that was all) of friends to go trick-or-treating and then party.  So it was Erika, Jack, Molly and I with three of the Maughans and Travis and Emily.  The Clarks joined in as well.  Kinda weird!  Kelly joined us when she got home, but only for our street.  It was a lot of fun though!  Erika was Eeyore with her friends Kate and Morgan as Tigger and Piglet.  They deliberated pretty heavily before coming up with this idea :).  I was happy I found a costume on Amazon and that it got here in time.  She seemed really happy with it every time she wore it.  Looked comfy.  Jack picked his own costume idea- Frankenstein!  This was super creative I thought and really easy to pull off.  We were happy I found a suit at the Centerville DI for cheap.  Then Nate cut some bolts to hang and tape to his ears and look like they were going into his neck.  That was a really fun one.  Molly knew what she wanted to be like a month ago.  She was very set on this idea so I did my best to carry it out!  I got the sweats from Amazon and cut the vinyl and ironed it on to look like a skeleton.  Pretty fun!  Easy since I did two of them last year for Erika and Kate.  It's cute how subtly Molly copies her sisters.  Her new favorite colors are Yellow and Light Green even :).  No mention of the two idols, just very subtle flattery :).  And Sadie- she was going to be a puppy and Emily even loaned me a costume for her, but she would not wear it.  Then we saw a "babysharkdoodoo" costume at the store and she just HAD to have it so we gave in and bought it.  She wore it fore a total of 10 seconds the first time and then only long enough to get a picture before going trick-or-treating.  She's so funny.  I should have made the puppy costume with sweats like I'd planned, she wouldn't have even known what it was.  No biggie though.  I put her in a little jogging costume and she looked adorable.  We walked the entire ward!  including the other half of Shadowbrook!  Lots of fun!  We were out about 2 1/2 hours!  I felt a little like a third wheel most of the night without Nate here, but it was fun to see the kids having so much fun.  And I loved visiting with a lot of neighbors!  There were lots of people out this year!  Kinda cool!  Especially considering it was not even Halloween :).  When Halloween falls on Sunday, we trick-or-treat the night before :).  Funny stuff.  Everyone got a lot of candy!  Even thought Molly was eating a Snickers almost the entire time we were trick-or-treating she still had 37 of them when we got home!  Her favorite!  Sadie had walked so slow she didn't get as much candy as everyone else.  I felt really bad when I realized that the reason she was walking slowly was probably because of how tight her onesie was.  Duh.  I hate it when I don't think of things.  Jack's legs got tired after about an hour, but he toughed out the rest of the night.  He didn't mind having 130 pieces of candy later though :).  He loved being with his friends too.  I almost didn't see him the entire time.  Erika actually stayed out even longer, going trick-or-treating in Morgan's neighborhood after ours!  So she really brought in a lot!  Fun stuff.  Good times!  10-30-21

EVAN'S FAREWELL

One of the hardest mornings to wake up and we had to get up, dressed and out of the house by 8:00 this morning to get up to Evan's farewell at 9:00.  Felt so early!!  But we did it!  He did a great job!  I really loved his talk!  The breakfast thing afterwards was a lot of fun too.  I really enjoyed Mark's video.  10-31-21

SEPTEMBER 2021

 KELLY'S NEUROLOGY EMG

I drove up to Logan after taking the Elementary kids to school (leaving all the late-start big kids and Nate with Molly and Sadie) to pick up Kelly for her EMG.  Sierra ended up coming with us.  The night before, I finally googled EMG and learned that they would be hooking her up to electrodes and shocking her and then poking needles in her to measure the activity in her muscles!!  I couldn't believe I'd gotten her into that!  I mean, it wasn't technically me- it was Dr. May who referred her to neurology.  Dr. Tew told us to keep the appointment, but anyway.  I was a little nervous for her!!  She had the EMG in the morning and then the MRI in the evening and I was anticipating a lot of pain and torment for Kelly that day.  Kind of stressful.  So anyway- Dr. Squires came in with his garden gnome beard (we liked him also, nice guy, fun to joke with about deserving several ice cream cones after) and he did all the things I'd read about on google the night before!  Lots of shocking and lots of needles!!  So weird.  I had no idea this kind of thing even existed!  Fortunately her neurology looks good!!  I didn't want there to be anything wrong neurologically.  I don't want anything to be wrong, I just want to be able to find out what it is so we can finally treat her.  9-1-21

MOLLY'S BIRTHDAY

I am still feeling a little down about how much of Molly's actual birthday I missed out on, but she seemed mostly annoyed any time I talked about her being the birthday girl or offered to sing to her.  She liked the crepes I made her though :).  I said goodbye and was gone until she came home from school!  She looked so cute in her little birthday crown and had loved passing out her fruit snacks.  She liked opening a present, her little horses that I had picked out at the toy store that morning with Kelly and Sierra.  She actually really loved that. I made her some spaghetti for her birthday dinner and then  I had to say goodbye when I took Kelly to her MRI, but because of some mix up with the time and having to take two cars to the hospital, we came back and were able to watch her open the rest of her gifts!  I was actually really happy about that.  She got a stuffed horse from Kelly and Sierra, a cookbook, a Spirit Uno game, a Spirit book and some little Spirit figurines.  She was pretty satisfied with all her gifts.  I felt a little bad I hadn't splurged and bought her the "old real phone" she wanted.  Not sure what that was all about.  Bea has one.  I was able to kiss my birthday girl goodnight before leaving for Logan.  It was a good day and I think she loved it :).  9-1-21

KELLY'S MRI

This was another one I had been anxious about.  I asked Dr. Tew to refer this after hearing about Ashlyn's tumors.  I realize it's a long shot, but I have had some residual regret about not insisting on a scan back when we were looking into her headaches, so this just pushed me to get it now.  She got the time wrong, so I had to race up to McKay Dee to fill out her paperwork for her a half hour before.  She and Sierra got there just in time.  Kelly went back for her procedure (they did the contrast imaging so she had to get an IV- she needed one more poke today) and Sierra and I sat and talked about Matt's crazy mom and her weird phone call to Kelly and Sierra that morning.  So strange.  It was about an hour long MRI.  I hope we find out about that soon.  I raced them home and won.  9-1-21

STICK HORSES, RAIN AND VOLLEYBALL

I spent some time Thursday (Thursday was the only day we didn't have packed with stuff this week) finishing up the stick horses I was making for Molly's friend Horse Party.  Nate kept me company.  Then we kind of chilled most of the day.  It was great!  We got some crazy rain that evening, came down in BUCKETS!  So we weren't able to work on the backyard as planned.  Noah's soccer practice was cancelled but Erika got to go to her first YW Volleyball clinic.  She had fun even though there were only a few girls from our ward there.  Hopefully more show up for the games.  I enjoyed talking with Lichelle Perry and Karen Wright for a few minutes when I picked Erika up.  9-2-21

MOLLY'S FRIEND PARTY

Friday was the big day!  We were very anxious and excited, but needed to stay in control so we could finish getting ready.  We had a lot to do still :).  I needed to make the horse cake, get the sticks for the horses, take Molly to school and then go back to help with centers!, then come back home, get Sadie down for a nap and finish the cake!  Super crazy!  But fun of course!  Luckily Nate came home in time to help get the backyard under control.  We set up the games... it was great!  The party guests started coming and Molly got them at the table, stuffing their horse heads, and I was able to glue them onto their sticks really quickly- that worked out perfectly!  I'm so glad I decided to have the kids finish them!  Then as they dried, the kids went outside for some Pin the Tail on the Horse, bean bag toss, horseshoes, and some impromptu fun from Nate.  Then we grabbed their horses and let them run the obstacle course Noah had created.  They had a lot of fun!  I was happy things were going so well.  We were getting through everything really quickly which was kind of a bummer.  I should have only made it an hour and a half.  But oh well.  We did horse cake which happened to be quite the hit with these kids!  They almost all had seconds!  I was shocked!  We almost ran out of cake!  They ate for a solid 15 minutes!  Which was good!  We did presents the way Molly wanted, with the disguised voices and her guessing, which was fun, and then we had about a half hour to kill so I just let them go outside to play!  Usually this is the favorite part, but some of the kids were bored.  Too bad.  Molly got a little over stimulated as well and wasn't loving the hide-and-seek game.  But overall it was a good party and the kids all had fun!  We only wish Jonah had been able to come.  Poor Hayden was the only boy.  I think he had fun though.  I cannot believe Molly is six!  She has grown so fast!!  9-3-21

BRADLEY'S TOP OF UTAH RACE

Brad had a race during Molly's party.  I wish I could have been there, but this wasn't the kind of party I could pawn off on Nate.  He said he did really well though- 18:30 for a 2.8 miler!  Go Brad!!!  He's really making a lot of progress each time!  Pretty cool!  9-3-21

DATE NIGHT

Nate and I topped off our crazy week with a date night!!  I was so grateful.  We went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner and then to see the new Marvel movie- Shang-chi and the 10 rings.  It was AWESOME!!  We loved the movie, but had a hard time keeping our eyes open for some reason!  We must be getting old or something!  We were in the theater with a lot of very enthusiastic people.  Made us laugh.  9-3-21

NO SOCCER SATURDAY

The holiday on Monday gave us a week off from games.  We were glad to have the day off to sleep in and have some different fun.  Charity ended up surprising us, coming home, and so we went out to the Habit for lunch.  Then it was time to take Noah and Erika's state fair art entries down- the ladies were so nice this year!  We were happy about that.  Then we stopped at Kim Ball's for some chatting and free clothes!  She's so awesome.  And then we had our first Saturday Fun!!  9-4-21

SATURDAY FUN- SEAQUEST- MOLLY

I invented this idea where we have a few categories like: outing, free outing, movie night, game night, park night, creative night and cooking class in a bowl, and then everyone's names in a different bowl and we draw out one category and one person and they get to pick specifically what we do in that category for the night for fun.  We tried it this week for the first time and it was AWESOME!!  We pulled out Outing and Molly.  She needed some help but picked Seaquest!  So we went!  Noah, Erika, Jack, Molly, Sadie and I were the only ones who went, but we had a BLAST!!  The place was basically empty and so we wandered around to our hearts' content!  These kids loved EVERYTHING!  It was so cute!  And Sadie was mostly good the entire time!  We got to go into the bird cage and feed them.  We spent a lot of time petting the stingrays and sharks (Erika and Jack pet the sharks three times!), and letting the doctor fish eat our dead skin!  Then we went into the shark room and Jack and I got surprised by the shark jumping and splashing us!  That was totally freaky!  Jack was jumpy earlier in the trip too, when he was trying to see what was in the pig pen and then saw the ENORMOUS pig laying right at his feet!  Kinda cute.  At the end as we were walking back through we found out they were going to feed the python so we stopped to watch!  Erika could tell you how fast the python just jumped on the dead rabbit and wrapped himself around him!  It was so fast it kind of scared us!  Then we sat and watched him constrict it, and then mosey around and start eating it.  Took a while and Sadie was getting restless so I left the big kids in there to watch him eat and took the girls out to the playground.  This was such a good visit!  We loved it!  I was so pleased with how well it went and that my idea to do something fun actually worked!  I was glad I didn't wimp out!  This was great!  Only bad thing was when Erika got hurt on the playground "jumping from Mt. Ogden to the clock tower" and hurt her ankle.  Not sure what will come of that injury.  But other than that- such a great night!!  I was really pleased!  9-4-21

LABOR DAY

Bright and early, we drove down to Draper for the Maynes family labor day hike up to the suspension bridge in Bear Canyon.  This was a cool new idea and I was happy to be doing something different.  Not as happy about taking my kids on my own without Nate.  But we ended up having a really good time!  Most of the kids were up ahead of my the whole time.  Sadie stayed with me, either walking, being carried through the "dupah dehwy" parts (super scary), riding on my shoulders, or in the pack.  She did really well if I'm being completely honest.  And same with Molly.  She got bored with the walking towards the end so I told her to run and she loved that :).  It was a nice hike.  Then we went and grabbed some Wendy's and ate at Meg's house with everyone.  We played a few games together and showed our bags of three items to describe ourselves- that was a lot of fun.  Very cool idea.  The kids had a lot of fun. 
When we got home we rested a little and tried to clean up the house a little for a bbq with my Dad, Steve and Heidi and her kids!  That was a lot of fun!  It's been a good holiday!  9-6-21
9-6-21

FROZEN

Erika and Jack started their Frozen rehearsals this week!  Erika as middle Elsa and Jack as a townsperson/hidden folk.  They seem to like the rehearsals okay.  Erika has been practicing songs and dancing a lot.  It's been cute to watch her get into it.  I think they're going to have a lot of fun.  9-7-21

KELLY TO LOGAN

We raced the clock to get Kelly up to Logan and run some of her applications/resumes out to different places.  This was a fun time with Kelly and fun to see where she had applied.  She is trying so hard!  I hope something pans out eventually.  We had to hurry and grab some lunch and pretty much just kicked her out of the car as we slowed down in front of her apartment.  I feel kinda bad about how we let her go, but we needed to get Molly back to school!  We had a nice time with Kelly.  Hopefully my fasting for her to get a job works.  9-7-21

CHARITY AND THE LANDLORD

Alpine Flats is trying to steal money from their tenants.  I've been really proud of Charity and Kelly for not losing their minds over this even though it has been kind of stressful.  I spent about an hour talking with Charity about her conversation with the landlord and how they suddenly owe money for a security deposit, application fees, credit checks, etc. even though they moved in three weeks ago!  It's pretty corrupt and thankfully there are a lot of people working on it to get this figured out, but it was a little hiccup for the girls.  I've been really proud of them and their ability to handle this.  They will never look at a lease agreement the same, I'm sure.  9-7-21

MOLLY SHOPPING WITH GRANDMA HATCH

Grandma took Molly birthday shopping and to McD's.  She had such a good time and came home with an Orbeez foot spa!  Pretty funny.  9-8-21

LUNCH WITH DAD

We needed to be close for Molly to go to Kindergarten, so we went to Twigs at Station Park this time.  We sat outside.  It was a lot of fun.  I was glad Nate and the girls were there too.   Fun time.  9-9-21

KELLY'S LIFE

So along with their apartment trying to rob them, Kelly has had some pretty exciting things happening as well!  #1- She finally registered for institute :).  She got a Restoration class, a Book of Mormon class, and Missionary Prep!  She'll be all set for her mission :).  I'm really happy about that.  #2- she got offered a job at Adornit!  She enjoyed her interview with a cute pregnant lady, and loved the idea of helping with advertising and taking pictures of things, and it did sound like she was really excited for that.  She still had another interview scheduled with Bliss, but she ended up cancelling that and accepting the job.  Pretty exciting!  #3- This goes back a few days, her roommate, to surprise her, had gone to the high school and asked if they needed any help with lacrosse coaching this season.  She told Kelly before she had heard back.  What a cool roommate, what a cool surprise!  Then, as soon as Kelly found out they did need some help, she called the AD this was her text:
so he didn't answer the first call so i left a voicemail and he calls me back and was like how are you so i said good how are you and he goes "i'll be good if you want to coach lacrosse!!" bc apparently they don't have any girls lax coaches up there so i'm meetin gwith him on monday @9:00!!! super excited

We were both so excited!  This is huge!!  This is just what she's been wanting!!  I'm so proud of her for sticking her neck out there and hope this pans out!!  We're trying not to count our chickens before they hatch, but man that would be cool!!  So I'm "patiently waiting" for 9:00 Monday!  9-8-21

VOLLEYBALL ERIKA

It was somewhat painful to go to volleyball this week.  I just wanted to go and watch Erika play, but there were all these dumb things bothering me.  They had asked people to wear masks on the sidelines which is the dumbest thing ever, then the looks because I wasn't wearing one.  The annoyance of just being an extra when I'm there, not one of the YW leaders.  I just miss that so much!!  I miss Mahala too!  Our YW leaders are interesting.  Fine, but not how I want them to be :).  So anyway.  Jami came a while later and fed me all of her problems along with a side of anti-Brad.  Not my favorite conversation.  It really wasn't bad, just wish she didn't do that.  9-9-21

WELL CHILD CHECKS FOR MOLLY AND SADIE

This visit was mostly uneventful, but I had finally remembered to ask Dr. Tew about Molly's little red thing on her lip and he wants her to go see a dermatologist.  He has no idea what it is.  A little disappointed by that, but I don't want to leave it undiagnosed.  She's had it forever and it doesn't bug her, but who knows.  I am in the fixit mode with my kids' health right now with Kelly's issues.  Sadie had to get her shots, three of them, and I was reminded how sensitive she is to this kind of pain.  She was out for the rest of the day.  Needed to be held, cuddled, coddled, and loved all afternoon/evening.  Poor little thing!  Even sat on my lap the whole time we did centers in Molly's class.  So sensitive!  9-10-21

KIERA AND CAROL

Had a long talk with Kiera and Carol telling them that I am not ready to do the health coaching.  I was so close to saying yes, but I just can't!  I am a stay-at-home mom and I still have my two little girls who need me during the day.  I need to be here for them mentally as well as physically.  Kind of helped me recommit to my being present.  9-10-21

FREE TUCANOS AND GETTING HIT IN THE PARKING LOT

Nate and I went out to Tucanos for our date night.  It was a really normal dinner, eating way too much food and having nice conversation (and some unpleasant conversation about some of our worries with life and our kids... perfectly normal of course) until the end.  While we were waiting for them to bring us our check, the power went out!  It was a rainy, smokey day at Station Park with the West Kaysville fire from the lightning, so of course the power went out.  We kind of acted un-surprised.  We sat there for quite a while waiting for Tucanos to figure things out and let us pay :).  We were perfectly fine sitting there, though, and able to just visit in the slowly darkening restaurant.  They announced they were going to let people pay on the square app, so they were making the rounds.  After a half hour or so they got to us.  They asked if it was just the two of us, then looked at the phone, then looked back at us and said, "Actually, you can just go." and insisted that we not have to pay!  Kind of amazing!  We were happy with that :).  We headed out to the car.  As we slowly made our way through the parking lot, inch by inch, we found ourselves in a spot where this guy was trying to squeeze past the back of the prius and totally hit it!  So irritating when he just drove off!  Nate laid on the horn and followed him as quickly as we could, I got out to take a picture of his license plate, and suddenly he was jumping out of his car.  He was very frantic, and it was pouring rain, so maybe that's why, but he scared me a little.  He asked if he had hit us, I said yes, he wanted to see where, then offered to give us his phone number and we just call him after.  I am not sure if that was the right thing to do, but we did.  It only scraped a little paint off the Prius surprisingly, but I think we will still contact the guy.  Kinda crazy.  Then it was a really slow drive home from Station Park.  I insisted that we take the back roads through West Kaysville and eventually the power came back on and we made it home pretty quickly after that.  So that was good.  The kids had been home with the power out and made the most of it.  Brad had taken Sadie on a drive and got stuck in the traffic.  It was a crazy evening.  Very memorable.  We couldn't believe how big the flames from the fire in West Kaysville were!  Lots of miracles over there too I heard.  9-10-21

SOCCER GAMES

Everyone won their games this week and we had lots of scoring!  Noah even headered (whoa that's actually a word!) a goal.  Erika scored a few times, Molly scored a few times... it was a fun day to watch soccer!  Minus the smoke from the fire in West Kaysville, the rain, and then the heat during Molly's!  Grandpa came to all three games and took us out for ice cream in between!  9-11-21

SATURDAY FUN- JACK- FREE MOVIE IN THE PARK/COTTON CANDY/POPCORN

We had a very successful second Saturday fun day and this stood out to me as if Heavenly Father has sanctified these times for us.  Sounds weird maybe.  I felt kind of inspired to do this idea and felt like it was something Heavenly Father wanted me to do and ever since then, I've seen the Lord's hand so many times.  It's been really cool.  Last week it was a miracle I took them to Seaquest on a whim like that :).  This week it was that a trip out to a Free Taylorsville Movie in the Park to watch Trolls 2 was fun!  On paper this was kind of a dorky idea and I never would have suggested that we do this on a regular day, but because we pulled out "Free Outing" from the first bowl and Jack had been wanting to go see a movie, it was the perfect way to fulfill that!  For free!  I am sure I could have fudged the rules a little and just taken them to a movie, but you can imagine my surprise when the first event that popped up on my free events on facebook was a movie!  We had to do it!  I was so happy that I was able to convince my kids this could be fun.  Well, most of them.  I think Luke was the only one who skipped out.  He had already had plans with Jaxx though.  (and of course Charity and Kelly)  We even snagged Brad as he was coming home from working the soccer games though- kind of another little miracle.  So anyway.  We drove down to Taylorsville, found the city hall, made ourselves comfy on the grass.  They were a little late getting the popcorn and cotton candy made, but it was kind of all you can eat :) so my kids pigged out :).  Sadie liked the cotton candy!  Not the burnt one that Brad tried to trade her for- HA!  Jack couldn't have been happier with the all you can eat popcorn.  But I love his description of when he ran out of popcorn mid-movie and looked over to see if there was anymore and the popcorn machine was gone!  It had vanished into thin air :).  It was funny how when we sat down the grass was "just cold" but when we got up to go home, or when I rolled over on my side, we were completely soaked from the ground!  Kinda funny.  Sadie watched the whole movie and danced and laid on me and joked around with Brad, learning how to wink... she did really well!  I couldn't believe we were still sitting there at the end of the movie and I hadn't had to get up and walk around with her at all!  Molly seemed to have a good time as well.  She was wishing she'd gotten her B blanket out of the car, but she sat and enjoyed the movie too, laying on my legs.  Erika was so nice to keep thanking me for the fun time.  I know she had fun and that's cool because she didn't really want to see that movie, she had to sit up and roll her eyes over several things for sure- we were both rolling our eyes quite a bit- but I was so proud of her for just enjoying the moment.  It made me happy that my kids are still kind of easy to please.  When we let them be.  Same with Noah.  It was cool of him and Brad to come, knowing what it was going to be, and still make it fun for the other kids and themselves.  Making the most of it!  I think that's a life skill I want my kids to have.  I had a moment, sitting there with my legs stretched out (this was another miracle- normally my body would have not let me sit there for a whole movie like this, but it did!  Could be a NSV but I like to give all the credit to Heavenly Father and his miracle committee), Molly laying on my shins, Sadie sitting on my lap, my pants getting soaked, watching a ridiculous movie, and it hit me- we're having a good time!  I would have never considered taking my kids to that movie on a regular day.  It was far, it was a dumb movie, and it was just kind of a mediocre idea.  But thanks to this inspired system of doing fun things on Saturday, we did it!  And we loved it!  It was a cool little realization that I want to remember.  These Saturday Fun things are for us to be together.  It's for making memories and bonding.  I was just so pleased with how it went!  I'm still smiling when I think about Brad and Molly in the back seat of the van, talking about letters and how to spell things.  This created that moment too... priceless.  9-11-21

NANA

After the movie, we drove in the dark over to Nana's grave.  That cemetery is a little creepier in the dark.  But we stopped at Nana's grave and took a little selfie.  I had wanted to go before the movie and meet up with  my dad, but I was worried about missing the free popcorn and cotton candy.  Too bad we would have had plenty of time :).  I think Nana understood.  I wish I could figure out why I have had so many vivid dreams about her lately.  Maybe there's no reason, but I feel like there's a reason.  I miss her.  Maybe that's all it is.  I wish she was here to visit.  9-11-21

DAN AND ADELE

Nate did a catering job for Dan's ward and so he was bringing the check and pans Sunday, and Adele came with him.  As much as I hate them seeing my house the way it was, I totally needed the visit!  It felt like it had been forever since I had an adult conversation (hadn't been, just felt like it) and I'd had to miss church for Molly's runny nose.  But we got to sit and chat for a while.  It was so nice.  I love talking to them.  9-12-21

FAMILY MEETING

We were able to go to the family meeting this week which was nice.  We had gotten a little off schedule with our unexpected visit from Dan and Adele (which I loved! and wouldn't trade) so we were a little late eating dinner and a little late getting to the family meeting.  We walked in while Ashlyn was talking about how it all went with her tumor, all the miracles and blessings and all of the faith she and Brycen have.  It was really cool to hear about.  Really cool to witness her faith and humility.  What a trying experience they are going through right now.  And now to know that there is more surgery ahead.  But they really have so much faith!  I'm so impressed.  Ruth had more lesson so I ended up outside with Sadie and Molly for a lot of it, but came in and guessed all the babies in the baby pictures and heard about the prices of things the year they were born.  I only wish we'd had more time to visit because as soon as the lesson was over and treat had been handed out, we needed to go.  School night.  But it was fun to be with everyone!  9-12-21

TALKING WITH BRAD

I got to talk a lot with Bradley on the way home from the family meeting.  I loved that.  He was asking about some things that brought up mine and Nate's dating and engagement.  So much fun to talk about that.  9-12-21

KELLY

I went to pick up Kelly Monday morning so she could come to the State Fair with us.  It was a fun drive talking about her apartment fun during the rain and football game, the new job and how her interview with the AD of the High school went!  She's probably going to get the assistant coaching job.  She's going to try the pink drink my friend is offering.  She's going to clean up her diet and see if that can help with her pain.  Lots of new things for Kelly.  Kinda cool!  9-13-21

STATE FAIR

The State Fair was a success this year!  As usual.  I was so happy Kelly wanted and was able to come down and enjoy that tradition with us.  We gotta keep that tradition alive!  Erika and Noah had entered art in the fair and so we went to the fine arts building first.  Then the creative arts.  Then the animals.  There were fewer animals this time and it was set up differently.  We got to see some five day old piglets and their momma!  We did our favorite exhibit, Helping Hands on the Farm.  The kids LOVE this!  It's when they all revert back to their childhood.  It's like a milestone marker in my mind.  We have so many pictures in there we could compare sizes and stuff.  I love that Brad and Luke put on aprons!  It's fun that they all help the little ones too.  Good times.  Then it was time to get some tickets and let those who had earned money, go on rides and stuff.  It worked out perfectly that the wristbands were buy one get one free, so they were only $14!  for unlimited rides.  Much better than paying around $6 per ride!  How can they even charge that much?!!  So crazy.  It was a lot of fun!  I loved watching them have fun together and I loved being together.  Jack and I broke off from everyone and went on the Big Fun Slide together- that was awesome :).  I loved his, "Hey!  You're not supposed to beat me!" as we raced down.  We got some funnel cakes.  Then walked through the business building.  This is Nate's favorite part :).  I like it too.  Minus that you have to turn people down over and over again.  I wanted some heating pads but they were way overpriced.  Erika got some awesome clay though!  Lots of fun there.  Then it was time to go.  It's always sad when it's over, but we did have school in the morning.  So glad Kelly came down!  That was a lot of fun.  When we got home from the fair, Bradley had finally been answered for Homecoming!  Not a moment too soon :).  9-13-21

RACE CATS

Race cats started this week!  Molly's first time doing it!  She loved it!!  I was glad about that.  They did their trial runs this week and Molly got fourth, Erika and Jack got first!  Pretty impressive!!  9-14-21

RS ACTIVITY

We did a little getting to know you activity today.  It was a lot of fun!  It took a lot to get me to go so I was very relieved that it was so enjoyable.  We filled out a numbers card telling different numbers of things and then played the M&M thing where you tell about yourself based on the color of the M&M.  I liked learning about everyone else.  Then we guessed whose card was whose.  Lots of fun.  I was at the table with Keeley Mendenhall, Deanne Oliekan, Gretchen Widdison, Julie Shaw, Mary Jo Goodspeed, Sherry (forgot her last name), and Sarah Laramore.  9-14-21

TYLER ENGH DIED

While I was at playgroup Wednesday, I got updates from the weekend about Ty, all old.  They were going to take him off of life support Wednesday afternoon, but he had passed away in the night Tuesday night instead.  It was so sad to get the news!  I cannot believe he's gone!  And his poor wife and kids.  His poor parents and siblings!  I'm just not sure how to feel about it all.  He was not vaccinated, so there's probably a lot of controversy there, but it's just so strange to know someone who has been affected by this so heavily.  My heart breaks for all of them.  9-15-21

LUNCH DAY

We had Costa Vida this week with Bradley and Luke :).  I just love having them home for lunch on Wednesdays!  So fun.  9-15-21

MOLLY'S MARK

We found out Molly's little red mark on her lip is just an angioma.  Pretty relieved.  I wasn't all that worried about it until the dentist said something and then when Dr. Tew wasn't sure what it was... well, then I got a little concerned.  We decided it was "Molly's mark"!  We're happy it's here to stay :).  9-16-21

ERIKA SPRAINED ANKLE

So we took Erika in finally, for her ankle she hurt almost two weeks ago and it turns out it is sprained!  She has to wear a rigid brace for a week, no soccer, no cross country.  Pretty devastating if you ask her, but I was very relieved it was only a week.  We did talk Emily into playing her as goalie for Saturday so that she could still play in her game.  I might regret that, but I couldn't bear the thought of her dying.  They killed the other team.  That was a relief as well.  9-16-21

MRI STUDY

I went and did the MRI study Thursday.  I've been anxious for this for a while because I always think I have a brain tumor- HA!  It ended up being pretty cool!  I had to do all these cognitive tests.  Lots of memorizing of lists of things.  I loved that my brain grouped them so that I could remember them better and then she had me group them.  I didn't love the describing words part.  Or the pronouncing words thing.  I was really good at memorizing pictures of things to do at the park :).  I will never know how I did.  Probably not a genius considering I finished an hour early! HA!  But they took my blood and gave me an MRI.  The MRI was interesting.  Noisy, but I was tired enough to fall asleep a little.  Felt a little like I was on laughing gas.  I got a CD of my brain and it looks fine :).  That was good :) HA!  $200 for my four hours is not bad :).  9-16-21

FRIDAY

Went to the park with Emily and then took Molly to school (this was the day I needed to pee so bad that I couldn't take her to school!  I had to run to the park and go real quick before taking her!  SO crazy!).  Then Sadie and I went to a different park to play on the swings and ran into Lisa!  We stood and talked for quite a while.  Mostly about COVID.  It was nice to talk to someone with similar opinions about it all.  Sadie loved swinging for about 45 minutes and then she really loved that I caught her on the slide!  So cute!!  9-17-21

MOLLY SICK

Molly was pretty sick all week- sniffles, sore throat, "scratchy voice"- but I just couldn't bring myself to not let her go.  She was so anxious to see what PE was, and computers!  She did fine, learned how to blow her nose (her clear snot).  I really think it was allergies from the smoke in the air all weekend.  9-17-21

DATE NIGHT

Nate and I got to go out (thank you Noah for the babysitting again!) and we went to Olive Garden.  It was a nice time.  We stopped at Walmart on the way home to get some mason jar lids for cheesecakes for Brad's dinner the next day but they didn't have any.  We came home and showed the kids the movie iRobot.  Kinda creepy for some of them, but I think Noah and Jack liked it.  9-17-21

BRADLEY'S HOMECOMING DANCE

We got to do a lot with Brad's dance this time around :).  I was super happy about that.  I got to take their pictures over at the ponds.  Then Nate catered and we hosted their big dinner!  36 kids!  It was a lot of fun!  We got the table and chairs from the church, Nate put up the lights over the basketball court and we got nice table cloths from the RS and put vases with flowers in them for centerpieces :).  I loved doing that for them and it turned out really great!  Between the cups/Cups Song, buying himself a Princess Sophia backpack on Amazon, and all the other goofing around... I think Bradley had fun :).  I loved it! And we can't not talk about how much Sadie loved the few minutes she got with them.  She was luckily napping for most of the dinner.  Brad had wanted to show her off a little, so he went up to her room to see if she was awake yet (it had been a while, but she wasn't crying so I wasn't sure and waking her up is never a good idea).  He came back down with her with the news that she was just sitting there in bed, awake!  So he took her around to meet everyone.  She's basically in love with Brandon so she loved seeing him.  Then when we were on the driveway with everyone, putting away the tables and chairs- such good boys!  They cleaned up the whole court!- Sadie was standing there, cheesecake jar and spoon in hand, talking with a few of the girls.  Tessa, Lilly and Kennedy were really cute with her, asking her how old she is and her favorite color.  Super cute!  She was holding her spoon and trying to hold up two fingers at the same time!  So adorable!  Then I was able to tell Tessa how we were trying to teach Sadie to say, "Tessa is cute" earlier and since Tessa thought that was cute, we had Sadie say it... it was ADORABLE!!!  I loved it :).  We said goodbye to them and they were on their way!  They went to the dance and then Brandon's afterwards for dessert and games.   9-18-21

JEN'S BIRTHDAY PARTY

We kind of lost track of time on Sunday, enjoying our sabbath too much- not a bad thing!- but we forgot it was time to go to Jen's birthday party.  So after dinner, just as we were about to turn on The Chosen, we scrambled everyone together, grabbed some cards, a gift, and headed up to Daybreak.  We got there about an hour late.  I felt so bad.  But of course, right after we got to the little park by Ruth's house, Molly needed to go to the bathroom.  So we walked to Ruth's, used the bathroom, came back to the park and everyone was cleaning up their chairs and getting ready to leave.  So we were there for approximately 15 minutes.  Hopefully the kids' cards were meaningful and made up for it.  It was a nice drive home.  We keep having these really great discussions in the car when we're driving to and from Grandma's.  It was nice.  I've actually really been enjoying Sundays lately.  9-19-21

CELLO RENTAL

She's doing it!  Erika is really going to try the cello!  This is exciting!  I am really proud of her for wanting to do something different.  I hope she enjoys it, however long she plays.  She's really excited!  A little nervous to tell Mrs. Burns that she has to miss an hour of class every week, but once she gets past that... HA! We went and checked out her cello on Monday night.  She got to try out the cello to see if she really wants to do it.  I'm excited for her.   9-20-21

FHE

Luke taught a really cool lesson this week.  It wasn't his week, but we let him fill in for Sadie.  He had had a really cool seminary lesson and wanted to try it on us.  He had someone eat a peppermint candy and someone else eat a lemon while we talked about blessings and trials for a minute.  Counting the number of times the Lord said "multiply blessings" in the chapter from last week.  It was a cool discussion and then he topped it off with giving them both a glass of orange juice.  He pointed out that it is interesting how the person who got the yummy treat didn't enjoy the orange juice as much, but the one who had the trial of eating the lemon (Jack really dramatized how hard this was, which was perfect :)) really enjoyed the orange juice and thought it was even better than usual.  This is how we are with trials.  It makes the good days and blessings that much more enjoyable.  Kinda cool!  We played Nate's game- Four Corners and had my treat chocolate chip pumpkin cookies.  It was a good night!  9-21-21

RACE CATS

It's been really fun to hear about race cats from Molly this time around.  She seems to like it!  Erika (and Kate I'm told) keep talking about how good she is and how amazing it is that she is so good :).  So that's been fun to hear about.  I've really looked forward to the day when she got her time to shine for a while, she's wanted to be a runner since she learned how to talk.  "I a runna like Ewika!"  9-22-21

MINISTERING INTERVIEW WITH MERRIT

I really loved my interview with Merrit this time.  I just love talking to her.  And Bro. Jacox came in and was hilarious as usual too.  It was a fun hour hanging out with them :).  It's nice to hear people who feel the same about things.  I don't get that most places.  I appreciate all their compliments and enjoy being with them.  9-23-21

DATE WITH DAN AND ADELE

We went up to Texas Roadhouse Thursday night.  That was fun!  I love talking with them too.  It's good we have them in our lives.  9-24-21

TYLER ENGH VIEWING

This was a hard night!  I hated seeing the Enghs in such a tough spot.  They have had a lot of trials as a family.  It's just good that they are such a close family.  (or seem to be)  It was fun to see his video (his cute son was taking care of) with the pictures and they included testimonies, I had no idea some of his interests.  I stood in line by Jay and Karla Denison.  It was a little like a reunion with the Engh kids and the Denisons, but I didn't enjoy seeing the Denisons as much as the Enghs.  They always make me feel kinda crappy.  I loved seeing the Engh kids though.  Jen said some sweet things.  I can't believe the condition she is in.  She had a cane.  Such a good family.  I hope they are able to feel some peace and comfort over the matter.  9-24-21

FUN RUN

Friday was race day!!  We were so excited!  It's always a little like Christmas at our house on the Fun Run day.  Molly was able to go to the morning class and get a bib and run the race with them (they do the Kindergarteners in the morning), which we thought was going to be such a great thing.  If only she hadn't fallen down and skinned her hip!  Such a bummer!!  It was then that I was actually really grateful the Brad had skipped school (at Jami's request) and been there to run with her.  He walked with her to the finish line.  I was so bummed we didn't get to see how she did.  She was doing really well before she fell Brad said.  So we cleaned her up and then got all ready for the big kids!  Erika and Jack look so grown up these days, being the big kids at the school.  I really can't believe Erika is a big sixth grader!  This was her last year of the Fun Run, it was the first day she was able to use her ankle after the week off it from spraining it, and she did so amazing!!  She and Kate ran together the entire time and then right at the end she was able to pull ahead a few feet and came in first!  Pretty cool!  She would have been just as happy if Kate had finished first, but it was fun to see her enjoying her own victory for a change :).  This was her first time getting first, she usually gets second to Kate.  I was so proud of her!  They came in WAY before the rest of the girls and not far behind the boys.  She was probably 10th or 11th over all.  So cool!!  Brad keeps telling her she needs to run with the cross country team this summer :).  Brad and Jack came running in together.  That was fun.  Jack ran almost the entire time!!  So proud of him!  It was a lot of fun to see him with his long strides at the beginning!  Such a cool kid!   I just love that these kids run.  I'm so proud of them and so impressed with the progress they are making!  9-24-21

BORDER WARS FOR BRADLEY

Friday was also Brad's race!  He was running in Border Wars up at Sugarhouse park.  We needed to make a mad dash to get down there, picking up Luke and racing the clock.  We got there, drove around the park looking for a parking spot for quite a while, then parked not knowing where the finish line even was.  Then we walked about a mile (which felt much longer with Sadie and tired kids in tow) to get to the finish line.  We got there, but after Brad had taken off so we were just waiting to cheer him on at the finish line.  We started watching the finish line at about 14 minutes and stood there eyes peeled for about 12 before deciding we weren't watching Brad's race, there was no way he was coming in after 26.  Although, after the morning Fun Run and having kids come way later I was starting to wonder if he had fallen or something.  So I decided to text him and ask him when he's running.  He texted me right back and said he had just finished!  That he ran at 3:00.  I was so confused because we had been right there!  There's no way he could have run!  So I called him.  As we were talking he walked over to us.  It was such a bummer!  We had missed him coming through because of the guy who was throwing up while he ran!  We had turned away in disgust right as Brad was running by.  He says, "A guy threw up right next to me!"  That's how we knew.  So sad that we didn't get to cheer him on!!  He did really good though!  Got a PR of 20:12!!  So cool!!  Sadie wanted to see Brandon before we left, but then we just headed back to the car.  We had to stop and get Fiiz on our way home (it's not really on the way, but you get it).  9-24-21

TEST DRIVING CARS

We are finally getting to the car buying process with Kelly!  Not a moment too soon.  She really needs a car.  Nate took her earlier in the day, they did some of the paper work stuff at a dealership in Layton.  Then that evening she got a call that she could come in and test drive some of them.  So I went with her.  We drove a Honda CRV- loved it!  It was smooth, seemed really nice, good miles, good price- this was the cheapest one she was testing.  Then we drove a Honda Accord that smelled like it had been smoked in and was not a smooth ride.  We really didn't like it at all.  Drove it around the block and took it back.  Then the Toyota Yaris or whatever it was called.  This was not much better than the Accord.  Smelled horrible and was kind of small.  We weren't huge fans of that one either.  All of them needed to be cleaned, so we tried not to judge them on looks, but it was hard to like those last two.  So I guess we'll see what's next!  9-24-21

SATURDAY FUN A DAY EARLY

So since the Ferguson Reunion was Saturday night, we decided we needed to do our Saturday Fun on Friday night instead.  It worked out because Nate was working.  Otherwise it probably would have been our date night.  We pulled out "outing" and Bradley.  Brad was gone so I bribed Erika with the option to choose if she would take Sadie out on the swings while I test drove cars with Kelly.  She finally picked going to ice cream and the pet store!  Pretty creative.  This ended up being a lot of fun!  And we had Kelly and Bradley with us!  We are happy to have big kids on the weekend :).  We savor those moments.  We went to Petco and it was closed already (it was only 7:45! so weird), so we walked over to Harmons for some gelato!  That was  fun cuz we hadn't been there in a while.  We used to go there all the time on our bike rides.  We sat outside to eat it.  Then we walked back to the car and decided the pet store in Centerville could be an option.  We were so happy it was open.  We loved looking at all the animals with Molly and Sadie.  Everyone wants to show them everything- that was cute.  Even Jack enjoyed this part too!  The kitties were fun to look at also.  We headed home and turned on a movie (San Andreas Fault) for a movie night ending.  The kids seemed happy.  I was glad.  9-24-21

STAKE 5K

I can't believe these kids were willing to run another 5K the day AFTER running the first one!  Well, and it wasn't everyone.  Charity (yes, she was home!  She had come down the night before and watched the movie with us- she was there for the lantern festival Saturday night with Isaac! we love these opportunities to see her!) stayed home sleeping in with Molly watching her show next to her on the couch.  But Nate and Jack ran together- he said Jack didn't stop hardly at all!  I rode my bike pulling Sadie- she was not happy for the first 2 miles, but after we stopped and got her some toast at home she was happy.  Kelly and Luke walked together.  I was happy to see them together when they came in.  I love these guys with their sibs.  Bradley was running his little heart out and came in 2nd overall (well, technically a bike came in first, but that doesn't count) and got a new PR- yep, better than the day before!- at 19:36!!!  SO COOL!!  Then Noah came in at !!!  And Erika at 24:49!!  They did so good!!!  So proud of all three of them!  It was a great way to start our day!  We grabbed Molly and Charity and dropped off the bike and trailer and went to IHOP for breakfast!  Pretty fun!!  9-25-21

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

Saturday afternoon we juggled a few things- Noah going to Jacob's party at Lagoon, soccer games, me passing out volleyball stuff for my new calling in the sports with Christie, and Nate leaving for work.  It was a typical Saturday :).  It was a hot day- so a little less enjoyable being outside, but we had fun.  Erika's game was awesome!  She only scored twice which isn't much for her, but she assisted pretty much every other shot!  Pretty fun!  And Molly scored twice at her game too!  So fun!  9-25-21

FERGUSON REUNION

With our soccer games being so late, we were an hour and a half late for the reunion.  Which was a bummer.  But once we were there, we had a really great time!  It was fun to see everyone who came!  I was surprised to see Janice and her grandkids.  KC and Shannon.  Carol and Bill were there with a bunch of their kids.  Tammy.  Then of course Ike and Gloria and Kiera and Carol and their families.  That was fun.  I loved seeing my dad with his idol again :).  It was so fun to talk with Ikey as usual.  He was telling me stories about my dad.  The first one was about when he had my dad come stay with him and Gloria in their student apartment down in Provo and he was going to tease him about the food he ate there (just cereal and toast of course) and then my dad chimed in with how Ikey used to keep the stats for the basketball team so he got to go sit in the booth with him at a basketball game!  Pretty cool!  But then he told this story about a Christmas when my dad was about 10 and Ikey and Gloria had decided to take gifts to Nana and her kids on Christmas day.  They went to their house, gave them the gifts, and then my dad scurried off to his room.  He was gone a while and then came back, asked his mom something, she said yes, then he left again.  When he came back he had a little gift he'd wrapped in a piece of wrapping paper from a previous gift, and gave it to them.  When they opened it, it was a little hand made cub scout head made from felt, that my dad had made for Nana, but asked if it was okay to give to them.  They were so touched by the gift that they have that and only that on their tree every year now!!  How cute is that!!!!  I loved it!  I never get to hear those kinds of stories about my dad.  And at the same time I couldn't help but think about how sacrificing Nana was.  To let him give away the gift he gave her.  Because knowing her- I doubt she got any other gifts!  I was thinking that as a mom, that would have been difficult.  But she was always so sacrificing.  I loved it.  It was cool to hear my dad almost tearing up about his Aunt and Uncle, Ikey's parents, always giving him a gift for Christmas.  It sounded pretty touching.  Very cool!!  I just love family.  Family is the best!  The reunion ended abruptly I think everyone needed to get to the football game-HA!- but we just went up to my dad's to hang out a little more with him and Steve.  It was a good evening.  I loved it!  Can't wait til next year!   9-25-21

ANSWERS TO PRAYER

I don't know what got into me on Sunday.  This happens a lot, but I'm usually able to diffuse it.  Lately, since church is so uncomfortable, it's been harder, and I think forgetting my mask and feeling like a jerk because of that I really struggled to enjoy the company of our ward and really just suck it up on the things that were weighing on my mind.  So you get the picture- kind of down in the dumps, self-pity, frustration, not feeling The Spirit, discouraged, judged, irritated, missing my husband... Luckily, I said a little prayer in my heart.  I was pleading with the Lord to help me let go of these feelings and move on.  I was asking Him to help me feel the peace that I KNOW I can feel at church.  It occurred to me that it was a fast and testimony meeting and my heart was missing the days when my kids all used to get up and bear their testimonies.  So I threw in a little, "could you please prompt one of my kids to bear their testimony today?" I knew it depended on their reception to the Spirit and I knew I didn't want it to be forced, so I was willing to let it go if Heavenly Father didn't grant my every wish, but I had hope :).  It wasn't long before I was able to smile, able to think clearly, and feel a little bit of strength from the Spirit.  I was so happy that my prayer had been answered so quickly.  I enjoyed a lot of the testimonies and all but forgot that I had asked Heavenly Father for my kids to get up when cute Kelly squeezed past me on our pew.  And right behind her was Charity :).  I was so happy!!  They both bore such powerful testimonies I realized it wasn't just about them getting up it was about what they said!  Made my day!  It was a bonus that they both got up there.  Then right after that Noah and Bradley were both up there.  Such cool kids!!  All of my kids are cool, not just these four, but in that moment I was extremely grateful and feeling so much love from my Heavenly Father for those four and their testimonies.  I know the others have testimonies, no doubt in my mind, it just wasn't their week!  And I don't know who felt prompted to stand up or who did it on their own.  But I had to give the credit to my Heavenly Father and my Savior.  What a blessing it was to have that little bonus prayer answered.  I have been blessed with many opportunities lately to feel Their Love.  It's been really special.  I feel like if there was a time I needed that more, it's now.  I love knowing that They love me and take me as I am, but that They are also willing to help me to improve and become the best version of me.  I loved it.  I'm so grateful for these tender mercies and for the beauty of the Gospel.  It was nice to feel some peace.  9-26-21

INTERNAL MEDICINE FOR KELLY

For the next step of our wild goose chase with Kelly's mysterious pain, we were to see an Internist.  We chose Nurse Practitioner Carra Brandley.  She was really nice, very thorough, asked all the right questions, got a lot of information out of us in such a short visit.  She determined that the next step would be ultrasound on her legs and a heart monitor.  So that is scheduled for next week.  Here's to the next thing.  I hope we find something useful.  Kelly has been such an amazing example of faith and hope and most of all patience through all of this.  I cannot even begin to express how frustrating it is to see such a beautiful, strong, caring, and service-loving daughter of God go through the pain that she does so frequently.  It seems so unfair yet I know that this is playing a role in her development.  I know that she will be and even better person when she comes to the end of this trial (assuming it ends) and that she will have the opportunity to reach out to our Father in Heaven and receive the peace and comfort available through Christ's Atonement.  She is such a beautiful spirit and such a light in my life.  I'm so grateful for the time that I get to spend with her even if it is in waiting rooms and doctor's offices.  I hope that for her sake it can end soon though.  9-27-21

GLOW UP BRADLEY

Brad had his big day!  Got his braces off!!  We were so happy for him!  I loved the text he sent Kelly a couple months ago when we made the appointment- it was something like: Put September 27th on your calendar! and she asked why and he said, "It's glow-up Bradley day!"  Which just cracks me up- I didn't know that was a term of course, but I love it!  Bradley really doesn't need to do much more glowing.  I feel like he is a bright light in the world.  I get so many compliments on Bradley and how nice he is, how well-behaved, what a loyal and good friend he is, etc.  He really is just such a good kid.  I couldn't ask for better.  If I did, I'd feel pretty greedy :).  He makes my life brighter and makes the tough things seem doable.  He sets such an example of pushing through challenges and pushing through trials that I really can't complain about any of mine.  He's a tough kid.  I love who he is becoming and can't wait to see what he does with his life.  And now he has his braces off so we get to see his cute dimples more often!  We were worried they'd be a little rusty from him holding back these last couple years, but nope!  They still work!  Cute as ever :).  So happy for him (and all the cute girls who liked him with braces and will now probably like him even more! HAHA!!).   9-27-21

FHE

Molly was our lesson today and she was in one of her moods so we did the easy- have everyone pick a picture from the box and tell about it.  I was able to get Molly to ask each person why that story was important to our lives and she did a great job!  I am really proud of Molly and all that she does.  Even when it's hard and feels like she can't do something, she is really learning to branch out and do new things.  Especially with the start of Kindergarten.  I think she has been able to kind of stay little until this year and has had to step it up real quick with a lot of things.  But she's doing it so well!  I'm so glad we have Molly in our family and have her sweetness.  She really is a thoughtful, kind, sensitive little girl.  We had Nate's drumsticks for the treat, and played Ring Around the Rosie for Sadie's activity.  It was one of those nights where we were all kind of dragging.  I'm glad we still had Family Night though.  Always feels good once we're doing it.  9-27-21

OPEN GYM FOR NOAH

Noah started open gym this week.  I'm so proud of that kid!!  He does so many things these days and does them all on his own!  Remembering his schedule, being on time and ready for stuff, reminding me when I forget it all!  He's mentioned recently that he really likes starting his day with a shower!  So now he gets up at 6:00 am so that he can shower and get all ready before Study time.  Which he is always present for.  I don't think he's missed a day in months!  Minus for school things.  I've been so impressed with him.  He had to go early this week for open gym and it wasn't too much of a change to get up just a little sooner to be at the school at 6:00.  He plays hard and then comes home to shower real quick before going back to school.  He's doing all this so he can try out for the basketball team.  I hope he makes it and if he doesn't, I hope he knows it's only because the coach is a terd :).  9-28-21

CELLO FOR ERIKA

Erika started orchestra this week!  She had her first one on Tuesday morning after play practice.  I was really proud of her for remembering everything and being so excited for this new challenge.  She is going to do great and I know that because of how she does everything else.  I'm impressed with her ability to try new things.  Even when her friends are not doing them.  I'm happy with how this year has been going for her and all the things I've heard about her at recess and in class.  She's still just such a good example to the kids around her.  We all see it.  She reaches out to the kids in need.  She is always so forgiving of her friends and so willing to move on.  She is a good friend and has so much fun.  Even if she does "laugh too much" she is really just a good, fun-loving, sweet daughter of God.  I hope she has as much fun playing the cello as she thinks she will :).  9-28-21

SOMETHING OUT OF THE BLUE BECAUSE I LOVE YOU

Sadie and I took time to go to Walmart this week and search for blue gifts for Nate.  We put them all in a blue lunch box and put a little note on them that said, "Something out of the BLUE because I love you!"  It was so much fun!  I stuck it on the seat of his car so he would get it as he left for the mid Tuesday night.  Made me happy to get his Marco Polo thank you while I rocked Sadie.  9-28-21

ELEMENT 4

So I haven't said much about my Life Book that goes along with this eating plan I've been doing.  In fact, I don't think I've said much about my eating plan.  I've been keeping it to myself because I know some people don't enjoy hearing about it.  But my second cousin Kiera Ferguson Ritterbush contacted me on Facebook and offered me a discount on this plan she is coaching.  At first I told her no a few times, but after a while of trying what worked for me before, after Molly when I lost 60 lbs, and that not working and then keto being fruitless also, I called her up and told her I was ready.  It's expensive, but I feel like it's helping me so much!  I've lost 29 lbs already, in just two months!  And I'm hoping to knock off at least another 30.  It took me a lot longer to lose this much last time so that's been awesome, but even more than the weight loss, I am learning such better habits and learning to focus on my mental and emotional health as well as physical.  The first three elements in this book were kind of obvious and didn't mean a whole lot to me, but this fourth one!  I am loving it!  It's all about diffusing negative emotions.  I really needed this!!  And I don't know if I knew how much I needed it!  Stop. Challenge. Choose is what it says and it is helping me so much to deal with all kinds of situations!  I feel like a different person.  If I think about why I am feeling something, and then focus on how I would like to feel, I am learning to change my reaction time and to get rid of the negative forces!  It's been so cool!!  I don't know if I can share specific examples, maybe I can think of some, but I feel like a different person because of it.  It's been awesome!  9-28-21

DAVIS DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP

Bradley ran in the Davis District Championship on Wednesday.  Nate and I were there, at the Layton Park, to cheer him on!  He did so well!!  He didn't do as well as he had wanted (he's had a lot of improvement the past week so I think he had some unrealistic expectations because of that) and it was hard to really gauge what a good time would be since it was 2.75 miles instead of a 5K, so that was tricky, but I thought he did great!  And just like it's been this season, he seemed to recover so quickly afterwards!  That's been a cool little improvement.  So proud of this kid and all that he does!  9-29-21

SADIE AND RED LIGHTS

Whenever we stop at a red light Sadie screams at me to "DOH!" It's so funny.  She doesn't love stopping.  She always asks what I'm doing and why I'm not going.  9-29-21

FLAG FOOTBALL/VOLLEYBALL

We started up with Flag Football for the boys this week, which they of course love and I love hearing about all their fun plays and goals.  We also started my new calling of Sports Assistant at Volleyball this week!  Christie and I went all out and walked around a personal invitation to Volleyball to all the young women along with these cute little "volleyball" zipper pulls I made using the Monkey fist knot- awesome, right!?- so we were very thrilled with our awesome turn out!  Well I was :).  Last time they had volleyball they had two girls- five the time before- we got NINE GIRLS THERE!!  Pretty sweet!  We had to split up our team so that the other team of one girl could play.  Everyone had a great time!  It was awesome!  I loved it.  I think Erika was okay with having her mom there :).  9-30-21

CLEANING THE TEMPLE

Nate and I volunteered (separately, not knowing the other one had signed up, which is funny) to clean the temple Thursday night.  It was a little bit of a sacrifice, getting in Sunday clothes at 9:00 at night, but of course once we were there, we were in heaven :).  As you know I LOVE cleaning the temple.  It's just so cool.  I don't know why.  They split us all up into groups, we were whittled down to us and the Nybos and then each given a vacuum!  I got to vacuum the laundry/sewing room with a few offices and the room where the baptismal clothes are passed out.  I got to vacuum a couple hallways and then he took me to the doors leading out to the parking garage, and asked me to vacuum the whole hallway there, around the atrium and down to the baptistry.  I was more than happy to do it, but of course had the little thing in my brain where I try to think of more efficient ways to do things and wondered why the temple wouldn't have a giant vacuum.  It would have taken a LOT less time to use something like that, but maybe this could be an analogy with life.  Slow and steady, ya know.  Or realizing that some things can't be rushed or done more efficiently.  Like our growth.  I don't know.  I thought about that the whole time :).  I wanted to do my best though so I developed a system to cover every last inch :).  Pretty funny probably, but I felt very "thorough".  It was a great night spent in the Lord's house.  Wouldn't trade it or all the sleep in the world for it.  Which speaking of sleep- after we got home around 12:30, we found a text from Bradley asking us to wake him up because he was rocking Sadie.  She of course woke up when Nate woke up Bradley and since Nate had to wake up to go to work in a few hours, I decided I better rock her.  I was up until about 3:00 rocking her to sleep and then having her wake up over and over as I tried to place her in bed.  She normally does so good!  It was crazy!  I was very tired the next day, but somehow still had the strength to get a lot done.  I'll give the credit to Heavenly Father for that one.  9-30-21