SEPTEMBER PHOTOS

 

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