JUNE 2023

 LUNCH WITH PAPPY
Me and my dad have a standing date for lunch now.  Third Thursday of the month.  We missed last month's and rescheduled it a few times, so it happened this Thursday instead :).  For the last few we have gone to Olive Garden which has been super yummy!  It's such a good time with my dad.  Very grateful he will sacrifice his time.  This week we were celebrating my birthday- HA!  He told the waitress that and then gave me my birthday/Christmas gift of a Joann gift card as well.  He's funny.  Kinda glad he didn't get them to sing to me.  6-1-23

KELLY'S 20th BIRTHDAY!
This birthday was a hard one to plan, but we ended up with a pretty fun day!  We all drove up to Logan (Grandma Hatch came with us and Grandpa Hatch met up with us there and Marco and Kora were with the girls- Charity had spent the night as well), met up at Mo' Bettas for some delicious food and rice krispie treats which I made look really cute with this little tiny balloon arch I have had sitting in my birthday basket for a long time.  It looked so cute!!  We sang to her there.  She opened her presents.  Then we drove over to Logan Lanes for two games of bowling.  This was so much fun!!  I don't love bowling, but it was really fun to do something different for a change.  I loved it.  I think I got second or third ish place!  Molly was the only one not having the time of her life.  So that was a bummer, but she'll learn I think.  I couldn't believe Nate got a turkey!  And Jack with all his strikes!  SO much fun!  After bowling we went over to Zeppe's for some ice cream.  This was also a good time.  I loved spoiling Kelly for the day.  It was a very long drive home!  I don't know why!  It just felt really long.  6-2-23

TRACK BANQUET
Nate, Brad, Luke and I all went to Surf n Swim for the Track Banquet.  It was fun to hear how well the team did this year.  I was bummed they didn't do any other kinds of awards.  Also, would have been much shorter if they hadn't talked about all the people who weren't there.  I hope Brad and Luke had fun swimming the rest of the night.  6-2-23

LAST SOCCER GAMES
Erika had her third and last soccer game Saturday.  She played so well!  It was really fun to watch her, even up against all the big (and I'm talking much larger girls) 8th and 9th graders.  She scored, Kate scored, it was a lot of fun.  We kept our winning streak thankfully.  Noah also had a good game.  He played awesome.  His team was struggling a little and then there was a bunch of drama with the ref, got the crowd all riled up.  Kinda funny.  I was sitting with Becky Bradbury so that was fun.  I think we lost that game, but Noah really was great out there.  And Brad had his last game as well.  He sure surprised me with his ability to play soccer for the first time as a senior in High School!  He looked great out there!  This game was kind of funny with the other team trash talking the entire time.  Kinda funny because they were losing by a lot.  But it was fun to sit there with Erika and laugh :).  6-3-23

SERVICE
We made dinner for Josh Quartinmont- ham and cheese sliders- we were splitting the meal with Leslie Christensen and Brad, Noah and Erika all delivered it.  Very nice.  6-4-23

FINGERPRINTS FOR BRAD
We got to our fingerprint appointment REALLY early, so we went to Wendy's first.  We were still really early when we got back to the jail.  They let us in anyway.  It was a really quick process, everything just happened and then we were done.  I think the hardest part was getting my wrinkley money into the machine to get a receipt for the fingerprints.  Funny stuff.  That part of his FBI Clearance is done!  6-5-23

KELLY ENDOCRINOLOGIST
Well, we finally had the appointment to look at Kelly's ovaries and they could barely see one and not the other.  So not much conclusion.  They did say they were surprised there were not more eggs in the one they saw, but not really conclusive enough, so they wanted to run the labs again.  ugh.  So we're back on the wild goose chase, hopefully something happens soon.  6-5-23

MY MOM'S BIRTHDAY
We spent all morning Tuesday working on my mom's Fairy Garden cake.  We were running a little late because we had tried using modeling chocolate which was kind of fun to use, not sure it was a big enough sampling of usage to make any real decisions about it, but it was interesting.  We had to ask for another half hour to get it ready.  But right as we finished it, my mom called and asked if we could reschedule because she was still feeling sick from diarrhea yesterday.  So that was kind of funny.  Not funny.  But it was fine.  The cake will be fine overnight.  So funny thing after that, I got a text from my mom that I think was for Heidi, telling her that "Christa was struggling a bit this morning getting everything and everyone ready to come to the party and actually I am really pretty weak still so we agreed on having the party tomorrow.  In the meantime, above you can see the cake she made me!"  I was irritated that she somehow managed to throw me under the bus WHILE I was making her birthday cake and then also rubbed in Heidi's face (not really though because she didn't get the text) that I had made her a cake.  She's so strange.  I was pretty irritated, but I decided to just let it go this time.  I don't know why I was able to do that, but I did.  It almost didn't bother me.  I was so glad.  And proud of myself.  SO the next day, we took the cake over to her house, she fed us some fun fairy food, the little kids worked on the fairy garden, the rest of us played some circle volleyball.  It was fun!  We had a good time.  6-6-23--6-7-23

DENTIST
11 cavities for 4 kids.  Time to crack down on the brushing.  I mean, it's past time of course.  So embarrassing.  6-7-23

JACK'S LAST BASEBALL GAME
This was kind of a bummer of a game.  The other team was really good.  Had a bunch of comp kids on the team.  We had a good cheering section for Jack, tho and he got a hit which was fun!  I think he really enjoyed this season.  Not sure I would ever do Roy League again, just because it's so far, but I actually really loved working with the people there.  Fun stuff.  Good job Jack!!  6-7-23

KELLY TREK
Kelly was asked by the Brenchley's to go on Trek as a trek sister.  I was pretty proud of her for branching out and doing that.  She got all ready to go on her own, did it all with very little help from me, I kept forgetting she was going.  She was very on it.  Then I dropped her off at the red brick church on Wednesday.  Hoping and praying things go well and she is not in too much pain.  6-7-23

PINEWOOD DERBY
The Youth put on a Pinewood Derby this week!  It was so much fun!!  Luke was one of the announcers which was fun to watch, he did a great job!  They all worked so hard on their cars, it was a lot of fun to see them doing that.  Brad made his to look like bacon and then glued the Peppa Pig characters on it after (we had tried to find a little toy pig and, in the meantime, found the Peppa Pig family- he wanted both and then just picked the family after that- funny kid).  Luke made his to look like a pencil!  It was so cool!  Noah did his like a hotdog and then glued a cow to the top.  Erika, after a LOT of deliberation, made hers look like a sub sandwich.  It was really cute and creative!  I was proud of all of them for working on them and being very self-motivated and super creative!  So fun!  None of our kids won the races, but Nonah's was the fastest of our boys (so cute that they raced them together at the end) and Erika got "Best Paint Job".  So much fun!!  6-7-23

YW SOFTBALL
I went and did the YW softball with the stake.  Stori was the only one there from our ward which was kind of a bummer.  But we had fun.  I didn't love feeling like a crappy pitcher and it was kind of frustrating to me that during something I feel somewhat confident about, I had to feel less than confident, ya know.  Like can't I get one thing to not feel like I suck at it??  Oh well.  6-8-23

KELLY'S HOME
She survived Trek!!  She actually said that her pain was completely gone the entire time!  I was so relieved!!  What a blessing.  She had a great time and had so many fun stories about being the designated bucket opener and keeping spirits up.  I'm really glad she got to have that opportunity!  6-9-23

SMOKED ORDERS
Nate did Pulled Pork this week and had a lot of takers.  It was a good week.  Heidi even got some and she came to get hers.  We had to ditch everyone to go on our date, but it was fun to have some more business again.  6-9-23

HOST XC GIRLS BREAKFAST
I had signed up to host breakfast after Jami had told everyone it was at her house, so I just had Nate take all the food over.  I made cinnamon rolls.  I had no idea they had ones you didn't need to let rise!  So it all worked out great!  Erika said they were good :).  6-9-23

DATE NIGHT
We went to Sushi Monster and then the new Transformers movie.  This was SO MUCH FUN!!  I was totally geeking out about how this movie was set in Peru!  Of all places!!!  I mean really?!!  What are the chances of a movie set in peru (a COOL MOVIE!) being set in Peru, months before Brad goes to Peru!!!  So cool.  I was super excited about it.  It was also a really fun movie!!  I loved it!!  I kept thinking about Jack the whole time.  I knew he would love it.  6-9-23

PRIMARY PARTY
We had a great time at the Primary party- well, I say we, but I mean the kids :).  And Charity.  She's a newly called Primary Teacher!  So fun.  They did a great job!  The kids had fun.  6-10-23

DATE WITH JACK- TRANSFORMERS
I've been trying to do dates with all the kids, most of them were lunch dates, I don't feel like I've been great at documenting them, so I need to get better at that.  This week was Jack's.  I made the decision for where we would go and we went and saw the new Transformers movie.  I was so excited to take him to it!!  He loved it of course and wants to watch all the other ones now!!  So fun!!  6-10-23

BRADLEY'S MISSION PHOTOSHOOT
We went up to the Bountiful temple to take a few pictures in the crazy wind!!  I couldn't believe how windy it was.  The lighting was pretty good, but the wind was annoying.  We got a few pictures, I tripped on a board and fell on my face, cracking the UV filter on my camera lens, and we took a few more with the telephoto lens.  It wasn't my favorite photoshoot, but I loved the time with Brad and I think we did get some good enough shots.  He's so handsome!  I'm really just so proud of his decision to go on a mission.  This is going to be awesome.  6-10-23

CHARITY'S TALK
Charity did an awesome job with her talk on Sunday!!  I was so proud of her!  I loved that she told some personal experiences that included: dad peacing out and her being scared out of her brains!  She's so funny.  But it was a really great talk.  I need to get a copy of it.  6-11-23

INFECTION
I talked with Dolores Furniss at choir on Sunday about my supposed mosquito/spider bite that I got a week ago, not really sure what to call it.  She seemed very concerned and suggested I get it checked out.  I said I would, but I was hoping for a more severe symptom to go in for.  Then that night I started feeling chills and a little feverish and even a little nauseous.  All of the symptoms of an infected bug bite.  I had kind of talked myself into going to the doctor and then finally got a little sleep.  In the morning I was feeling a little better.  I was still hurting and the constant battle in my head about whether or not I should go to the doctor was driving me a bit nuts, but I was trying to just tough it out.  I started praying for an obvious symptom so that I would know if I should go in and the next time I looked at the wound it was leaking red puss.  It was so gross.  I finally called the doctor, they said to go to the instacare, and then I talked myself out of going again.  It's kind of weird looking back, how badly I didn't think I should go.  But of course, Dolores called me to ask how it went at the doctor, I told her I hadn't gone yet, and then she offered to drive me :).  She was super persistent, but I did decide to just go.  Mostly because of her.  She was my answer to my prayers.  I finally went.  Waited quite a bit in the Layton hospital urgent care.  Then I finally went in and it was a very awkward visit.  She had me pull my pants down and looked at it.  Decided it was infected and said to take my pants off, lay on the table and she was going to cut it open and squeeze all the crap out.  It escalated pretty quickly!  I was surprised.  So I did what she said, I was laying on my stomach on the table, she came in, gave it a few shots of lidocaine, then left to get her scalpel, came back and got to work.  This was SO BEYOND PAINFUL!!!  I couldn't believe how much it hurt!  She had to squeeze it for a really long time.  I was seriously bawling.  Quietly, but bawling.  She asked if I'd ever had MRSA and I was completely offended and gave a quick "no".  And then a little later I asked, "if this is MRSA it's contagious right?" and she quickly retorted with, "I don't think it's MRSA.  You'd have a lot more legions if it started a week ago."  So.  I guess that was kind of reassuring for me.  I was glad.  But I still don't have any real answers about what it came from.  I guess it really could be a mosquito bite.  So anyway.  She put a big bandaid on it and send me on my way with a prescription for antibiotics which I was super nervous to start taking.  I don't have the best track record with antibiotics.  It was really sweet of Dolores to care and be so concerned for me.  I was really grateful for that.  She texted when I got home and asked about it all.  Then later called to offer me some water proof bandage cover so that I could go in the pool at the ward pool party!  So nice.  Then she brought the patches over.  Then she came in the locker room with me and actually put the thing on for me!!  She's so amazing!  I just love Dolores.  6-11-23--6-14-23

LUKE PREPARATION FOR LIFE
Luke went to this all by himself.  I was really proud of him for getting up from his nap, getting all dressed up, arranged his own ride, and went!  Pretty awesome.  6-11-23

FAMILY MEETING
My leg was hurting so bad from this infection that I did not enjoy myself all that much.  Everyone else seemed to be having fun and we enjoyed the time.  We had given Becky a ride so that was fun we got to visit with her.  I talked a little with Nancy about mission stuff.  But my leg was really hurting.  6-11-23

BUZZED
Bradley and his friends totally buzzed his head today!!  I was shocked he actually did it!  He kept saying he was going to, but he actually did!  He looks so different!  It's fun though!  And super soft.  Owen was hilarious when he was watching him do it and then the next day when Brad came down the stairs while Owen was sitting on the couch, Owen looked up at him and said, "Your hair is still like that!?"  It was so surprising to him.  Made me laugh so hard!  Brad was funny about it and said, "Yeah, ya like it?  Ya wanna cut your hair like this?"  He didn't seem as anxious to ask for the haircut as he was the day before.  Funny kid.  6-11-23--6-12-23

LIFETIME PHOTOSHOOT- NOAH AND LUKE
This time it was just Luke and Noah.  We went down to Highland to a very wealthy neighborhood!  It was supposed to be a two hour thing, they were paying them for two hours apparently, but only took about 30 minutes!!  Kinda nice!  We were happy to get home a little earlier than planned.  6-12-23

FHE
I learned that I had the lesson as we were starting and found a little question/verse in Come Follow Me about the phrase "Not my will but thine, be done" and it had been a similar feel from the day before for me, so I shared the experience about praying to have this bug bite just go away and then not having that be the case.  It was a short lesson, Nate said a few things.  Brad mentioned that going on a mission is a lot like this and I thought that was cool that he recognizes that.  I don't remember what the game or treat were.  Weird.  I think it was popsicles.  Kind of an impromptu night. 6-12-23

ERIKA ORTHO
Found out Erika's bracket had broken off and was still attached to the springs, so it was jabbing her gums every time she moved her jaw.  Kind of sad!  I was mostly mad that the hygienist didn't even apologize or offer any kind of sympathy about it.  They just kept reminding her to take care of her angry gums.  Didn't even have record of prescribing the mouth wash.  Weird.  Poor Erika!  6-13-23

RELIEF SOCIETY PAINT NIGHT
Kelly and I went to this together.  It was pretty fun!  We did a water color of Christ.  I was kind of hoping for a little more instruction, but it was fine.  Kelly's looked amazing.  I talked with Lisa about Owen's funny comments and I talked to Emily about the trike Sadie keeps stealing of Johah's.  Kinda funny.  6-13-23

COOLEST MIRACLE EVER!!!
Tuesday night, Nate was working the mid, I woke up to Sadie crying, went down and got her and brought her up to my bed.  About a few seconds later, she let out this ear-piercing scream and starts kicking and thrashing and just really freaking out.  I tried to calm her down, I tried to help her by rubbing her legs, tried asking her where it hurt- nothing!  She was out of control about it!!  So strange!!  I really thought maybe something had fallen asleep, but after about a half hour of this screaming, I was not really sure.  Then I had the line about Priesthood authority/blessings from my Patriarchal blessing pop into my head and immediately wanted her to have a Priesthood blessing.  I was so relieved when I realized that Brad was here!!  He has helped with a few blessings, but never given one, so I knew it was a stretch for him, but she needed something, so I went down to his room, woke him up, and he actually just like POPPED out of bed!  It was so cool.  He put some more clothes on and came up to my room.  He wasn't sure how to start it so I helped him with that, but then he proceeded to give the sweetest blessing to his little sister and best bud.  I LOVED THIS MOMENT!!!  I had told him it didn't need to be anything long/big, just a simple blessing is okay, but he said quite a bit and all of it just touched my heart.  It was so neat!!!  I was so glad he was there.  And then the coolest thing happened, when he was done- she stopped crying.  She was really calm and I was able to ask her how she was feeling and she said, "Better".  It was so cute!!  So we stayed in my rocking chair and I rocked her right to sleep and she slept the entire rest of the night.  Such a cool miracle!!  I was so happy I got to experience this!!  It was the perfect conditions for Brad to give his first blessing.  It was so great that he was there to give her the blessing she needed.  I just loved it!!  The only thing that would have made it better was if Nate had been there.  But then of course it wouldn't have happened.  So anyway.  I hope I remember it forever.  6-14-23

KELLY'S PHONE CALL WITH THE DOC
Her doctor was in the car, so it wasn't on Zoom this time, but we were able to learn that her bloodwork again showed that she should have some more eggs, so they want to do an ultrasound to see the other one.  A fancier ultrasound.  So that's exciting.  I asked about the process of removing the eggs... sounds like a lot of work!  I hope Kelly is up for all of this.  6-14-23

INITIATORIES WITH KELLY
We got to go to the Bountiful Temple (which she hasn't been in since receiving her endowment) and do initiatories.  It was a really nice time.  She was doing the family name she found for trek and I did temple names.  I loved it.  We went up into the Celestial room after and noticed that it's YELLOW!!  Kelly loved that.  It is beautiful.  I loved the time with her.  6-14-23

WARD POOL PARTY
Everyone was very anxious for this!  Nate made all the meat again.  It was really well attended this year.  We ate, listened to all of Charity's stories, then headed over to the pool.  Dolores helped me with the water proof patch, which was humilating, but also very nice of her.  I was able to swim the entire time!  I got to be with Nate, played with Sadie, Molly, watched Jack on the diving boards, watched the older kids all play basketball for the entire two hours, and bumped into Erika a few times as she played with Kate, Sadie, the diving boards, the slides... she was pretty busy :).  It was so much fun!!  I wish there were more fun parents there, getting in the pool, but Lisa was, Melissa Giatras, Gretchen, Lindsey Cutler.  So pretty good :).  It was a really fun night.  Then the chaos of getting wet people home!!  So fun!!  Nate headed off to the mid at the end of the party.  6-14-23

MAT BALL
This was a lot of fun.  I got to go watch Mat Ball with the stake youth on Thursday night.  They seemed like they were having a lot of fun.  I talked with Christie and Brian the whole time.  That was fun.  6-14-23

NOAH'S FRIENDS
We finally got to host Noah's friends!!  Took a little bit of work getting the house and yard cleaned up for it, but I was happy he had them over.  6-15-23

DATE NIGHT
We had to shorten our date, canceled our temple appointment, so that we could be home for Noah's friend time, but it was still nice.  We went to SlapFish and had some of their new food there.  I loved the cauliflower and my tacos.  We got home and watched Alone with everyone.  6-15-23

FATHER'S DAY CELEBRATING
We found a few hours in our Saturday evening- Nate took the day off!- and made our way over to Gailey Park for some kickball and then Volleyball bumping and setting in a circle.  This ended up being SO MUCH FUN!!  I really loved it.  We missed Charity because she was working, but she joined us at Panda after.  Everyone got along so well and there was very minimal drama.  Kinda nice!  Even Sadie and Molly were getting into the kickball.  I loved that!  Sadie played in the sand during the volleyball.  I think our record was 36 in a row!  Fun stuff.  I hope Nate felt celebrated a little.  We had to be done by 7:00 for Luke's date and Erika needed to get ready for her regional youth dance.  But we watched Transformers (the first one) to celebrate also.  6-17-23

FATHER'S DAY
This went much like they all do- breakfast in bed for Nate, a gift from everyone, lots of sweet things to say about him and then we rushed to get ready for church.  I was bummed that Brad wasn't feeling good enough to make the omelet, but by some miracle, it actually turned out pretty good!  If I do say so myself.  I looked amazing.  Not sure how it tasted.  Sadie gave him a bug catcher.  Molly gave him a key chain pac man game (looks like the old arcade games) and a geode to open together.  Jack gave him a cool pocket watch with a fish on it that I helped him pick out at Station Park on our date.  Erika gave him a tumbler with fish on it.  Noah gave him a hat.  Luke a blanket.  Bradley went shopping on his own, found him a really nice fishing pole because he had broken his earlier in the week.  Kelly made him a SMOKED sign with his logo painted on it.  Pretty awesome.  And Charity gave him something that I can't think of right now for some reason.  It was a good gift.  I'm just drawing a blank.  Anyway.  They all picked out his favorite treats as well.  No shirts this year.  I kinda miss that tradition, but he really doesn't need any more shirts.  It was a nice day.  The primary kids got to sing in Sacrament meeting which Sadie has really learned to love.  She asks to sing in Sacrament meeting every sunday.  We didn't really get to spoil him the rest of the day because he worked, but it was a nice morning.  We invited my dad, Heidi and Steve over for some of Nate's chili for dinner and some visiting.  That was nice.  I was glad we were able to host my dad instead of him hosting us.  I only wish Steve would have come.  I miss him.  6-18-23

BRADLEY CAMPING WITH HIS FRIENDS
We watched as Brad (aka: Dad) packed up all the camping gear and got a lot of things ready for him and his friends to go have fun.  He was feeling like the dad taking his kids camping, and it kinda looked that way from our perspective as well :).  But he was very excited.  I was happy for him.  We aid our goodbyes before i left to take the boys to FSY.  I hope he is safe, smart and has fun.  6-19-23--6-22-23

FSY- LUKE AND NOAH
We had things planned out to a T and needed it to go smoothly, getting Noah and Luke to their FSY's this Monday.  I had insisted on driving them both, so it was my own doing, but thanks to Heavenly Father it all went really well.  I really couldn't have asked for better.  In fact, driving up to the U, we hit all green lights along 400 S, going up and that in and of itself was a miracle.  I didn't realize it until Thursday when we got red lights at EVERY. SINGLE. LIGHT.  Drove Jack nuts.  Anyway.  We picked up Noah's friend Nate and drove them to the U.  Their room was a ways away from where we parked, but it was okay.  They had a really nice room!  I was impressed.  Got my selfie with Noah and hugged him goodbye.  Raced back to the van with Luke and rushed down to BYU.  We made really good time, got checked in quickly, found his building and did the safety info.  Then got his stuff up to his room all before 1:00.  They only give you 2 hours to check in at both places so this was pretty magical that it all worked out.  I got my selfie and hugged him goodbye.  Jaxx was there, thankfully, so it wasn't too weird to just ditch him.  I was glad they were both off and hoping they have fun!!  I will never understand why the house feels so much different with just one ore two people missing, but it does.  Luke enjoyed all the games they played and Noah was having fun listening to his hitler worshipping neighbor in the nazi hat.  They were having a lot of fun when I texted them that night.  6-19-23--6-24-23

FHE
Family Night felt really small even with Josh visiting.  We had to make do with who we had there.  Nate taught a lesson about Fathers.  It was nice.  We played King Pig for quite a while and then got Crumbl cookies and Ben and Jerry's ice cream to make ice cream sandwiches for the treat.  I ate part of a waffle cookie- those are so yummy drizzled with syrup.  But I was glad I had the self control to not go for the sugar induced coma.  Looked yummy though!  The kids loved it.  6-19-23

TUESDAY
We spent a lot of Tuesday getting things ready for Erika to go to Girls Camp.  She also got to go to Bahr Dermatology to try removing her big warts on her hands.  We'll see how that goes.  It's been so weird to not have the three boys home!  6-20-23

GIRLS CAMP
This is a hard one for me.  Erika left for Girls Camp on Wednesday morning.  I was completely jealous and having a hard time controlling my emotions.  I didn't want her to worry about me- she was already worried about herself, the cabin situation, how much fun she would have, etc.  I didn't cry, but it was a struggle.  Luckily she was okay with me just dropping her off and leaving.  I know she will have fun.  I know it will be a blast.  No doubt about it.  I am just beyond jealous.  She texted me on the way worried about sleeping arrangements, but then the next time I heard from her it was about the amazing sunset, skits, and that she was "having more fun that she thought she would!"  So that was good!  (and a little sad cuz as much as I want her to have fun, I don't want it to be more fun that the ones I was there for- HA!  Kinda picky, I know)  I can't wait to hear all about it though!  And I really do want her to have a blast.  Camp Zarahemla- here she comes.  6-21-23--6-24-23

WEDNESDAY
I kept wanting to do fun things with the littles here at home, but the weather and their hermit personalities wouldn't allow it!  I think they were perfectly content with hanging out at home and with their friends and tv/computer.  We did manage to get out on Thursday though.  6-21-23

ZOO WITH HEIDI
We met up with Heidi at the zoo after killing about an hour because we got there before them.  We had a lot of fun walking around, playing in the splash park, climbing on the statues all over the park and taking pictures of the kids on them.  Oh and seeing the animals.  That was just a bonus.  We loved the polar bears as usual, had fun listening to the gorillas chomping on their lettuce and celery, watching the tiger breathe as he slept, seeing the giraffe's tongues, counting the zebras stripes, and hugging and kissing the warthog and meer cat statue.  There was lots of whining and fighting that I had to lecture them on later.  The three of them really struggled getting along for some reason and it might have been the heat or lack of food, but they were all a teensy bit grumpy.  But we survived and still had fun.  Porter and Alyssa were angels as usual.  It was a nice time.  Sadie had fallen asleep before we left the parking lot.  That's how tired she was.  Five hours of zoo can do that.  6-22-23

TWO PIZZAS
We only had the three littles and Bradley for dinner Thursday evening.  And Brad was on a hike with friends.  I decided two pizzas would be enough- almost got three, but thought we had enough snacks to fill in the gaps if it wasn't.  So I got a cheese and a pepperoni.  I honestly thought we would at least get through the pepperoni one, but guess how much they ate?!!  Nate showed me the next morning and we got a good annoyed laugh about the THREE PIECES OF PIZZA that had been eaten.  Literally.  One cheese and two pepperoni!  I was shocked.  I don't think Brad ate any after hiking with his friends.  Kind of strange and annoying.  6-22-23

SPACE JAM
I showed Jack and Molly the old Space Jam last night for our movie night.  They didn't hate it!  6-22-23

DATE NIGHT
We got our date night still, thanks to Bradley.  He actually took all the little kids fishing with him and Victor.  How cute is that!  And of course Fiiz after!  Nate and I went out with Christie and Brian to The Thai Place on 200 North.  Yummy food!  I loved it!  We had fun listening to Brian's stories- he was hilarious.  6-23-23

PICKING UP LUKE
I got to pick up Luke from FSY and it was such a fun drive home hearing about all of the things he got to do.  His Miss Idaho girl counselor who plays basketball and thought Luke should have told everyone that he plays basketball after playing with him on the last day! His counselor having had the option to get a lot of money and a car with his job, but choosing to go to FSY instead!  All the funny stories about Jaxx and his sweaty hands.  His group being really irreverent.  The entire time.  That was a bummer.  Crazy thing is I know Luke was still able to feel the spirit.  I was happy to hear about all the cool classes he went to too.  Sounded like he got the full experience.  I was so happy for him.  We got him some McD's on the way home.  He seemed so happy.  6-24-23

NOAH'S HOME
When we got home from BYU Noah was already here from U of U with Nate.  He had some funny stories about the Hitler worshipper in his group.  His stories were mostly about the funny kid in his group and the weird kid :).  But he did have such a great time!  There weren't any other cute girls there but he did give his number to four people.  Interesting.  He liked a lot of his classes as well and shared the thought about how when we do something good, Heavenly Father pats us on the back and is glad we did it.  I think that's awesome.  He had a lot of fun.  6-24-23

PICKING UP ERIKA
Erika got home earlier than planned but still wanted a shower before going to the reunion.  She had a great time at Girls Camp!  I was so happy for her.  I got to hear all about the faith walk, the awesome sunset hike, the slip n slide, the slow and small river that was still fun.  All the funny moments.  I loved hearing that things went way better than she had expected!  With how worried she was the past couple months knowing it was cabins and that Nate and I wouldn't be there... it was a concern.  6-24-23

STOWELL REUNION
The Stowell Reunion was really great this year!  It felt more like the old ones which was fun.  We had Nate's pulled pork and sausage (she planned on food for 80 people and there was WAY TOO MUCH!) But we were able to share with the Furnisses so that was nice.  We ate, played some games.  I got to run the older kids' games with Jack, Erika, Noah, Luke and Bradley all participating.  We did the getting dressed in clothes relay and then a few others including a 4Xhalf a lap around the field.  Kinda fun.  Oh, Victor was there too :).  So that was fun.  The little kids got to do bubbles, paint, and got a bag with candy and small toys in them.  It reminded me how much I LOVED the little take away bags when I was a kid.  I volunteered to do next year's reunion because nobody else was stepping up, but I think I might try to do something reallly fun for the kids take away bags.  We'll see how much time I have.  But Kraig did a little blurb about Alexander Kelley- Sophronia Kelley's dad (now I'm second guessing the second e).  That was cool.  It was a nice time with everyone.  I loved talking with everyone.  I made the rounds and visited with most of the people there.  Pretty good turnout.  Kathy did a great job!  6-24-23

ERIKA ULTRASOUND
We went and had Erika's ultrasound Monday.  Went well.  She didn't love the full bladder part, but she did great.  We haven't heard back about it so everything must have been fine.  Hopefully she's perfectly healthy.  6-26-23

NOAH ORTHO
Poor Noah has been through the ringer with his braces this last year.  Lots of crazy things in his mouth.  He's getting close to the end though and they were really pushing these elastics this time, but of course, they are giving him sores on the corners of his moouth, so we're not really sure what to do about that.  I need to call them.  Such a bummer though.  Poor guy.  6-26-23

FHE
We had to improvise a little this week for FHE so we had Luke and Noah each share something from FSY!  So fun to hear their take-aways.  We played Triple Agent for the game and went to Berry Station for the treat (Without Dad, Charity and Sadie because she was asleep and Nate needed to work on the meat for the Noriega's wedding).  Lindee Perry was our guest for FHE this week.  6-26-23

LUNCH WITH JULIE CLEMENS
I got to go to lunch with Julie on Tuesday.  I felt a little guilty because she had been so sick the day before, but she said she was okay going.  We met up at Chili's in Salt Lake and talked for a couple hours.  Then we walked over to Trader Joes.  This was my first time inside a Trader Joes!  Pretty fun.  Nate would have gone NUTS in there!!  Not exaggerating.  He would love it.  And spend a ton of money in there :).  But it was cool.  A lot of cool stuff.  And I loved talking to Julie.  She's the greatest.  6-27-23

DINNER WITH SCOTT AND AMY
Nate got a text from Scott kind of last minute that they were going to be in town and wanted to get together.  We ended up having them over for pizza and Buffalo Wild Wings!  So that was fun.  Scott is always so fun to talk to- so complimentary- I love that he loves big families and makes us feel awesome when we're around him.  Same with Amy.  She's great.  They are such a nice couple to have around.  I wish they could come more often.  We all had a good time.  6-27-23

CRATER SWIMMING WITH JEN
Aunt Jen informed Nate in a text that she had reserved a spot for all of us to go swimming in The Crater at The Homestead up in Midway!  That was pretty cool!  I actually really loved it!  It is a crater created by a hot spring of mineral water.  They wanted to use the water to water crops so they put in a drain when they first found it but then learned that that wouldn't work for the crops so they blasted a tunnel into it and use it for tourism now :).  It's 65 feet deep and the top of the crater, the opening, is 55 feet up.  Kinda cool!  The water was so warm and it was so nice that they had all the life jackets and everything there, so it was a really easy outing.  We got to talk with Jen, Caleb, Eli and Oliver Webster while we were swimming.  And then grandma before we left.  We had been a few minutes late since there was weird traffic the last half of the drive, but we loved it!  Even Sadie had a pretty good time.  6-28-23

JORDAN RIVER TEMPLE BAPTISMS
We were invited to fill the Hatch's temple appointment becauase their other cousins couldn't make it and it ended up being so much fun!  Brad brought Victor.  The Hatches were basically done when we got there, but they were so fun to sit and watch us finish and then waited for us to do confirmations and talk after.  Sarah had Charlie, Alvin, her parents and my mom there.  Then we brought Brad, Victor, Luke, Noah and Erika.  Luke baptized Erika and then Brad, then Brad turned around and did Luke, then Victor and then Victor did me!  So fun!  We headed up to Ruth's after saying our hellos and goodbyes to the Hatches, to pick up Eli and Oliver.  6-29-23

WEBSTERS SLEEPING OVER
We ended up meeting up with them at a park.  Jen and Nancy came too.  We all played for quite a while (Brad and Victor didn't have their play clothes so they played basketball in their sunday clothes- Luke in his sunday shoes which ended up being REALLY uncomfortable I guess) Sadie spent most of her time swinging and crying to have someone push her on the swing and most of the kids played tag with Eli and Oliver all over the playground- looked really fun.  Then we headed back home.  We grabbed some food at the Habit, that was fun.  We took a little walk over to the ponds when we got home, to see the Sunset and show off our fun neighborhood then caught up on our Alone before going to sleep.  Poor Oliver had the deflating air mattress.  In the morning we had puffy pancakes and then the Websters, Brad and Nate all headed out to go on a plane ride and then a tour of the tower.  It sounded like they all had a really good time flying!  Coincidentally Brad is a natural at flying the plane!  Kinda cool!  Then we met up with them up Big Cottonwood Canyon with some hotdogs and s'mores stuff.  They ended up fishing the whole time we were there- literally, I think we saw them for 10 seconds during the two hours we were there.  It was such a pretty spot there, in the Ledgemeer Picnic sites- I LOVED the scenery.  It was pretty relaxing and Jack started our fire and kept it alive for us to make lunch.  I brought a yummy fruit salad and some chips and dip also.  It was pretty nice!!  Still can't believe I forgot plates and forks.  So strange.  After a very rushed clean up and mad dash for the car (also making a scene with the port a potty guys about them not being able to stay parked behind my car for 5-10 minutes because "I don't have 5 minutes!" Luke, Noah, Erika, Jack, Molly, Sadie and I all headed out for the Hatch's.  Nate took the Websters back to Grandma's.  6-29-23--6-30-23

LITTLE KIDS SLEEPOVER AT GRANDMA'S
My mom invited all the grandkids to sleepover at her house Friday night.  Following Simon's retirement party.  She was a little stressed about it so I talked her into lettingn me get the snacks, letting the kids plan some games, and just having frozen waffles for breakfast.  We picked up the Hatches and dropped off all ten kids (Noah, Erika, Jack, Molly, Sadie, Charlie, Alvin, Savannah, Izzie, and Aria) along with four pizzas.  It was going to be a fun night for everyone!!  It sounded like everything went really well.  They played crossnet, in the kiddie pool, watched Wonder, got claustrophobic at times, and helped calm Sadie down when Sarah tried to take her home with her girls.  But they did pretty good.  We risked it and let Sadie stay the night so she, Molly and Erika all slept in the bed and slept in til 9:00!  So I think it went okay!  I was glad I didn't have to go pick her up in the middle of the night.  6-30-23--7-1-23

BIG KIDS DATE WITH MOM AND DAD
We took advantage of having the littles gone and took the big kids out for a fun night!  We went to Sushi Monster ate about 11 rolls (cuz the waitress missed one of them) and talked- that was fun!  We went to Smith's for some snacks and then home for some Triple Agent and Alone :).  So fun!!  It was beyond weird to go to bed with such an empty house knowing it wasn't going to be filled before curfew!  6-30-23

MAY 2023

 SADIE'S SICK
Woke up to a sick Sadie.  She was throwing up a bunch and I was frantically trying to figure out how we were going to fit that into our big day!!  Poor little lady.  5-1-23

ERIKA PEDIATRIC OBGYN
We got a few more answers here and it was actually kind of a relief.  I wish they hadn't asked for her preferred pronouns cuz that stuff makes me crazy, but looks like things are mostly fine.  PHEW!  5-1-23

LAST CHANCE MEET- BRAD AND LUKE/SOUTH END MEET- NOAH
We had our last chance meet on Monday.  I got to help make the balloon arch for the Senior presentation, that was exciting and a fun to meet Kenzie's mom and visit with Brandon's again too.  We watched Luke and Brad both do 110 hurdles, Brad did the 100 M dash.  Then we rushed over to Farmington High for Noah's mile- he looked amazing in this one, although he said he didn't PR, I'm still shocked!  Then we raced back to Davis- literally raced!  We had grandpa Hatch and my mom with us, and we FLEW!!  Seriously!  We got there just in time for the Senior presentation, got to walk out on the field with Brad, he walked through the tunnel of players and then the balloon arch for a picture with mom and dad.  So fun!!  Kind of his moment!  They read off his favorite memory of the season- "jumping in Farmington pond every Thursday".  It was so cool!!  I wish we'd been able to relax a little more that day, but we were so worried about Erika babysitting the sicky in her disabled state.  It was a little crazy.  Then we watched Brad and Luke do their 300 hurdles and then stayed quite a while longer to watch Luke and Brad do the long jump!  This was LUke's first time doing the long jump and I think he did really awesome!  He also PRed on his 110 and 300 hurdles!  Very cool!  Brad made it into the finals with the long jump and PRed again on his 300 hurdles.  He keeps getting closer to his state qualifying time, but just barely not there yet.  We're so proud of these guys!  They are doing so much and working so hard!!  It's really fun to witness.  So cool!  5-1-23

BRAD'S FIRST ANNOINTING
We felt the need to give Sadie a blessing Monday night as she was still throwing up a little.  Nate got all ready to bless him and even I wondered if I should stop him so we could go get Brad to help, but I didn't want to interrupt and be that wife, so luckily Nate was prompted the same and actually stopped mid-sentence and went and got Brad.  So Brad got to anoint her head and Nate sealed it with a blessing.  So cool!!  Brad did great!  Makes this mom so happy!!  5-1-23

TEMPLE BAPTISMS
We went for another round at the Ogden Temple for Wednesday morning baptisms.  Woke up bright and early.  It was Bradley, Luke, Brandon and I again, only this time we brought some of Rishelle's names so that I could get baptized!!  This was so cool!  My first time having Luke baptize me!  Then another cool little milestone- Brad got to confirm all of us!!  Newly ordained Elder!  He did awesome!  It was so cool!!  I'm going to try to find new ways for him to practice using his Priesthood here, so he can get really comfortable with it!  So fun!  Such a great way to start my day!  Wendy's after again :).  5-3-23

BASEBALL PARK
We spontaneously decided to go to the park tonight.  Owen had just come over to play with Sadie, so we invited him and then Jack wanted Will there.  I called Heidi as we left and she met up with us as well.  So lots of fun!  Everyone was so good there, except for Sadie!  Nate was working the mid, so he brought Erika down on his way to work after Young Women's.  We had a good enough time.  I'll never forget Owen carrying my camp chair to the car for me- and then asking for the keys- HA!  He's adorable! 5-3-23

CHARITY MOVING HOME!
Charity is moving home for the summer before her plans to move down to Orem!  It's so exciting and even though Sadie was disappointed that Josh isn't moving in with us, we are all super excited to hopefully see more of Charity!  She invited Steve over to meet Josh and I think they were going to eat lunch, but Steve bailed.  But it was so fun to see Steve.  Nate put up our new light over the kitchen table while we all chatted.  Good times.  5-4-23

AWESOME FINDS
We went to the DI and then Good will for Noah's Grease costume and wasn't until we searched at Good Will that we had the blessing of finding the perfect leather jacket!  So cool!!  And then we found a quesadilla maker that was pretty thrilling!!  Kind of a cool little miracle.  5-4-23

JOSH'S BRAKES
Nate helped Josh change his brake pads.  Kinda cool that my dad taught him and now he's teaching Josh.  Very cool.  5-4-23

DATE NIGHT
We had to squeeze our date night in on Thursday, went to Monster Sushi and then grocery shopping for some stuff for Nate to test out his new griddle for Cinco De Mayo :).  Good times!  So grateful for Nate.  I seriously could not do this life on my own.  5-4-23

BYU INVITATIONAL
I got to spend the day down in Happy Valley with Bradley at the BYU Invitational.  This is a big one!  Every kids from Alaska were here!!  So cool!!  Brad was doing the long jump the 110 hurdles and the 300 hurdles.  He had some awesome jumps, didn't PR, so that was disappointing, but he did awesome nonetheless.  Then in his 110 hurdles the kid next to him hit his hurdle and he stumbled a little costing him his momentum.  Such a bummer.  He was very bummed about that but knew he still had his 300 hurdles for redemption.  He did AWESOME on his 300 hurdles.  He came in 3rd in his heat!  We were shocked when we realized he hadn't even PRed or qualified for State.  So sad!  He was a very good sport and didn't get too upset.  You could tell he was bummed though.  I have to say, I am so proud of Bradley.  He is a very cool kid.  I had this cool little moment while we were at that meet where I was talking with Heavenly Father and asking him if he could please just let Brad catch a break.  Please just let him have a win, ya know.  It's been a long season of him barely not making things and it's been okay because he's been so gracious about it all, but I just want him to have at least one little win.  And it was like Heavenly Father said, "I have bigger things planned for Braadley, just hold on, they're coming."  It was so cool!  I mean, I was a little bummed thinking he wasn't going to make it to state at this meet, but cool that Heavenly Father has a plan for Brad.  I'm excited to see what that is.  He's just awesome.  We had a nice time talking in the car, although I felt like I was mostly just annoying him- HA!  Good memories though.  I love this kid!!  5-5-23

SATURDAY
This Saturday was pretty chill.  Not a ton going on.  Just two soccer games since Noah had Grease dress rehearsal all day and Erika's foot is still on the mend.  It was fun to watch Molly's game- I was sitting by the woman I met at Stake Conference a week or so ago.  She was telling me all about homeschooling her kids.  I enjoyed hearing her story and what it has been like for her and naturally I consider doing it when I talk to people like this, but I just get stumped every time when I think about it.  I think it would take a massive prompting from The Spirit or words from our Prophet to switch.  I don't know.  Still cool to hear about though.  Her name is Lisa Stevens, in case I change my mind and need to contact her :).  We got to watch Brad's soccer game as well.  This was fun.  It's just fun to watch him doing something new and different.  I know he's not totally comfortable out there, but he really does a great job!  It almost takes me back to little Bradley days, like he's still testing out ways to kick and which ways work or not.  He looks so cute out there when I am thinking about this :).  Fun stuff.  After all the soccer games and saying goodbye to Nate, we did very little else.  I can't even remember what we did.  5-6-23

SUNDAY
My lesson was not my favorite.  Felt lame.  Luke said that "at least the time went by fast".  So there's that.  We didn't do our craft and our dessert bombed.  We did get to have Charity and Kelly here, as well as a couple of Kelly's friends when they dropped her off- if Ralph doesn't like her, I'm shocked!  We went on a walk to take some dessert to Michelle (aka: Richelle) and Lexi.  I want to get back into our conference talk studying on Sunday night!  Need to do that.  5-7-23

LONGEST DAY EVER
So Monday was THE LONGEST DAY EVER!!  We were all so anxious for Brad to get his call the next day!  Felt like eternity!  We didn't even have FHE because we were all sleeping away our anxiousness.  So crazy!  We did roast hotdogs for dinner and I think Molly counted that as FHE and that's why she didn't remind me.  But oh man- that was tough!!  5-8-23

BRAD'S MISSION CALL!!!
This was a cool day!  I am going to tell the whole long drawn out story just because it made me so happy!  So I took Brad to school around 8:50 because he had home release first.  Then at about 10:30 I got a text from him informing me that he got the text about his call being in his inbox!!!  He was so excited!  I was very excited too!  He was telling me how anxious he was to open it and I told him he just had a few more hours and then he was like, "Or you could check me out so I can go read it by myself quietly and then go back to school :)"  I was all for that!  HA!  I checked him out, picked him up, and he went down in the creek.  Originally he had wanted to go hike Adam's Canyon to go read it, but then he said he realized that was pretty involved and he probably didn't really have time to do that.  He's so adorable.  I love that he is taking this so seriously and making it a special thing.  So he read his call to himself down in the creek and then came back up to the house, just BEAMING!!  He had an even brighter glow than usual!  It was SO CUTE!!  He seemed very happy!  I was of course incredibly anxious to hear it and begged him to just tell me.  He wanted to keep it a secret til he read it to the family.  So I stopped begging.  But then I asked him if he could just tell me if it is outside the U.S. or not.  He said he couldn't tell me and then as soon as Kelly left the room, he whispered to me that it was outside!!  We were both super excited for that!  He had only said one thing about where he wanted to go and that was "Foreign" so I was a little relieved and thanked Heavenly Father.  So he and Kelly went and got lunch, took Noah to his ortho appointment for me (I was still in my pjs and trying to get the house all cleaned up for that night).  Then he went back to school.  The suspense was totally building up!!  It was so nuts!  Finally, he came home around 3:45, very excited and anxious to read it to us all, then Nate showed up with his mom and Subway sandwiches, and everyone else who hadn't been home showed up as well.  Everyone was here minus Charity who couldn't get off work til 5:00.  So Brad (about a half hour earlier than planned) requested that we just do it then!  So exciting!!  We hurried up with our guesses on the map.  Molly's original guess was China, but I had informed her that China doesn't have any missions, and gave her the option to change it.  I guess Ms. Smith had just been teaching them about Peru that day, talking about eating animals while she was there, and Molly had that fresh in her mind, so she chose Peru.   We all went down to the family room, Kelly said a little prayer, and Brad read us his mission call!!  It was so special!  The Spirit was so strong!  I LOVED IT!!!  Peru, Arequipa Mission- Spanish speaking!  I had not thought of Peru!!  Molly did, but I didn't!  HA!  We all got very excited and cheered, Molly was BEAMING at having guessed right!  Told Brad she would have to eat animals!  Everyone was hugging and wiping tears, and hugging some more!!  Such a neat experience!!!  For all of us!  I really was just so thrilled to have this experience here for all of these younger siblings and be able to witness the beauty of a mission call.  So Brad and Luke had to hurry off to their track dinner after that.  They were gone for about an hour and fifteen minutes.  I took Noah to his rehearsal.  When I got back the house was already starting to fill up, Brad was dressed up- it was so fun!  Each minute another like five or six kids came piling into the house for a good 15-20 minutes!  I couldn't believe how many teenagers we could fit in here!  Along with Grandma Ruthie, Grandma Hatch, Grandpa Hatch, Aunt Jen, Aunt Meg, Chris, Sierra, Matt, Jarom, Sam, Heidi, Porter, Alyssa... the house was full!  I'm realizing just how small our house is going to feel when our kids are grown with children of their own!  We gotta get on our remodel project soon!  So pretty much the entire track team had come over- as invited by Coach Agnello- and all of them were piled in the family room to hear where Brad was going!  This was so exciting!  You wouldn't think  you could get that many kids quiet, but they did!  Brandon said a prayer as well as helped Bradley pull up the email again.  We could hear Bradley so well!  When he read the Peru, Arequipa part, the room erupted!!  Everyone was so thrilled!   Even some teary-eyed girls. There were lots of hugs and pictures, I saw him showing some people where it was on the map.  So cute!!  I loved having this moment for him.  And it really was just a short moment.  Brad made the rounds, said thanks to everyone who came, shook the Bishop and Jay's hands, hugged his mom again and headed off for Pierce's call opening.   Just as fast as they all crammed in here, they were all gone!  Maybe faster!  But it was so neat!!  I loved it so much!!  Brad is such an awesome kid.  I'm so beyond proud of him and who he is.  This will be a really neat experience to watch him grow through this new challenge of serving a mission.  He is so good at challenges and so good at growing, I think it is going to be really cool!!  Now to prepare!!  There's so much to do!!  5-9-23

JACK'S FIRST BASEBALL GAME OF THE SEASON
After kicking everyone out of our house- and leaving some of them here- we all piled in the van and went up to Roy for Jack's first baseball game of the season.  This was a lot of fun.  Even Sierra and Matt and Josh came!  We had everyone but Luke and Noah.  Jack played awesome!  It was really fun to cheer for him and be there to support him.  After the game, Kelly and I headed up to Logan for me to take her home.  Nate brought everyone else home and headed off to the mid.  Up in Logan, I got pulled over, for the first time in a very long time!  I had turned right into the second lane instead of the close one.  Horrible me.  So I got pulled over.  The funny part was that at Jack's game I had said to Nate, "Remind me to get my driver's license out of the van before I go.  Oh, maybe it doesn't matter.  I'll probably be fine.  I'll have Kelly with me anyway so she can get me out if it :)."  Yes, I said all of that in one breath.  It was almost cool that everything happened as I had predicted.  I pulled over.  He told me why.  Then Kelly asked him if his name was Kelly, told him hers was too.  He asked how she knew, she told him she was a dispatcher and everyone told her she needed to meet him.  Then he got my info and went back to his car.  We talked and laughed, she could not figure out why he would pull me over for that, "they're not even trying to get a quota right now", and then sure enough, he came back, said it was just a warning and let me off the hook!  I give Kelly all the credit for that one.  I never get warnings!!  So kinda funny, also not.  I don't know.  Good times.  I really loved our drive home and talking with Kelly the whole way.  I'm so proud of that girl! She keeps going and that, alone, is a victory!!  5-9-23

KELLY'S VIRTUAL ENDOCRINOLOGIST APPOINTMENT
So this was a huge deal!  And that's why I was so bugged at myself for not making better plans ahead of time for kids to get to school.  I hadn't planned on the Forerunner being out of gas, but really, I could have planned better.  I was glad Kelly reminded me as I was taking Jack and Molly to school.  We were running late, so it was already like 9:05 when she said something.  I hurried and called Emily on my drive home, she so willingly accepted the offer to drive all the rest of my kids to school- late start!  I put Sadie in front of a show and went up to my room to get on the Zoom meeting for Kelly's appointment.  This has been a month in the making.  So I was very anxious to get some answers.  I would say it went fairly well.  Not thrilled about the supposed diagnosis, hopeful, but also not, but I also feel like we don't really know enough yet.  This doctor, whose name is escaping me now- she's the REI- mostly Endocrinologist- doctor.  She had looked at Kelly's labs and decided that she didn't have premature menopause, it looked more like POI- Premature Ovarian Insufficiency.  Not as promising as menopause because it means that she doesn't have anymore eggs, so freezing them for later would be out.  But as opposed to menopause, this disease can magically reverse and she could magically have eggs and spontaneous periods.  Kinda weird.  But gave me a little hope after all our hopes being dashed within the first few minutes.  She proceeded to tell us that they don't know much about this disease (we've heard that before- eyeroll) and that they are trying to do research on how genetic it is.  So she asked if we'd be interested in getting samples from all the female relatives to test.  Kinda cool- Kelly and I both liked that part.  She is going to prescripe an estrogen patch for Kelly, along with getting her some progesterone for when the lining of her uterus builds up from the estrogen.  She is supposed to get on some calcium and vitamin D supplements to try to fight the deterioration that will likely be caused by the lack of estrogen.  She is going to go in for an ultrasound to see just how bad her ovaries are, if there are any obstructions or problems with the follicles.  Hopefully see some eggs.  IF there are eggs, she could have them frozen.  If not, we can hope for some later.  I loved how this doctor talked to Kelly about her plans.  If all was well with her health, what does she want to have happen.  She said she's always wanted a big family and the doctor said, that's what she wanted to do for Kelly.  So that was nice.  She talked a little about informing family members and to begin thinking about who she would want to use as an egg donor if things don't go a different way.  She told Kelly that her body is probably healthy enough to carry a pregnancy, so she really could just do that.  I was happy for her there.  Who knows how it will all go.  Kelly was so tough.  I know it was hard news, it was for me as well, but she was really tough and continues to try to look at the positive.  I'm really amazed at all that this girl has to go through.  I hope she is equally blessed for it all.  She deserves so many blessings.  So I guess June 5th will give us some more answers, so we will baby step to June 5th.  5-10-23

REGION MEET
This was a big meet- took up a lot of space in Bradley's mind.  He was very anxious to get qualifying time on his 300 hurdles.  I got to go watch him do the 4X2, 110 hurdles, his 300 hurdles and tomorrow is his 4X4.  Unfortunately, I guess he hurt his shoulder in his practice and did something else to it on the 110's, so he was all taped up in his 300 run.  He did such a good job. I didn't notice any stuttering, looked really good!  He was even ahead of most of his heat the whole time. Unfortunately, this just wasn't his day.  He did not get his time he wanted.  I was so devastated for him.  He was super sad too.  He didn't come over to hug us this time either.  Just such a sad moment.  I think that his 4X4 team has a chance and we are all expecting them to make it to state, but this was a huge let down for Brad.  I'm glad he is good at bouncing back and will look back on Track with fond memories still, but this was not how I wanted his Senior Track season to end.  I'm so SO proud of him and all the hard work he put in.  He really did SO MUCH to get where he is and should be so proud of himself as well.  I hope he uses what he's learned throughout the rest of his adult life and is able to push and overcome many other challenges with so much strength then too.  Good job, Bradley!!  We love you!!  5-10-23

BRAD'S 4X4 
Day two of Region 1 track meet happened today and Brad got to run with his 4X4 team- they did incredible!!  I couldn't believe the gap we were going to have to close as I watched the first kid run, but sure enough, Brad was second and he completely zapped that gap!!  It was so awesome!  Handed off to Brandon and he did really great too.  I'm not sure who was last, but they were able to fight for second place and they not only made it to State coming in 2nd, but their time got them there as well!  They got a two second PR!!  He's hoping to take Victor in place of the first kid, but we'll see I guess.  So cool!!  Way to go Brad!!  5-11-23

MOLLY'S FIRST GRADE PROGRAM
We had a really fun time at Molly's show!!  I took lots of video and pictures.  It was so fun to watch Molly and hear all their hard work learning some really great songs!  I loved all the things that they sang about as well.  I need to get those songs on my Amazon music!  Great songs.  Molly knew every word and sang her little heart out.  It was so great!  I loved her name acrostic poem and self portrait- she really is an artist!  We went to artic circle, then the Creamery and finally Dairy Queen after to celebrate- the first two were closed for some reason.  But this was fun- Sadie loved it too.  5-12-23

MOLLY'S FOLLOW-UP
We went in for Molly's arm follow-up-- the brace is off! What a great relief!  She's a little tender still, but I told her that's how it will be for a little bit.  Hopefully that is true.  5-12-23

BRAD'S BOOK
It has been a challenge to find time to work on Brad's book this year!  I should have done more of it sooner.  It's been so much fun looking at his pictures and thinking about who he is and how far he's come.  He really is just such an amazing kid.  I'm so proud of him.  So proud of who he is and excited to see what else he does with his life.  I hope I can get his book done in time though :).  5-12-23

STAKE SENIOR DINNER-- I MEAN BRUNCH
I don't know why it was so frustrating to me that they did a brunch instead of dinner, but it was.  It was right during soccer!!  BUT doesn't change how excited I was for Brad to get to do this.  I love this little thing the stake does.  The food took extra long to get there, so we had the program part of the meeting first.  Pres. Perry spoke.  He did a little quiz thing of guessing familiar voices and then talked about hearing the Lord's voice through the scriptures, temple, and conference talks.  I loved it!  Great reminder!  Sweet and short as well.  I loved sitting by him and tricking him about the photo section of the program.  They do a little slide show of the kids baby pictures and current pictures.  Brad totally fell for it and so it was a surprise when his popped up on the screen :).  Funny boy.  We ate Cracker Barrel food, Brad didn't like Nate's cold pancakes :).  It was fun to talk about his mission and all the boys' calls around us.  Good stuff.  5-13-23

SOCCER
Erika played in her game for the first time this season.  Her food seemed to do mostly okay.  We will see how it holds up all week.  I was so grateful for Luke, he took her and watched her entire game- good kid- without complaints!  And it was a little early for him.  Her team won.  Molly scored in her game!  AND she blocked a bunch of the other teams' attempts.  We watched Noah's team too and he did awesome.  Brad skipped out on his game this time because he's gotta protect his body for state!  5-13-23

MOTHER'S DAY!!!
Today has been so great!!  It's not even time to eat Nate's homecooked dinner, and I already feel substantially spoiled!  Woke up to their cute song.  They each handed me a rose, so cute!  Then Nate gave me the eggs, bacon and sausage he made for breakfast- so yummy!  The kids all gave me gifts, youngest to oldest.  Sadie gave me a gift card to Dairy Queen and a stuffed pig :).  We named her "Mypig" so that we could both call her that :).  She's been adorable about the name and making sure she has Mypig when she's doing everything.  Molly gave me this (I was told) well thought out and shopped around for Spa Day set!  It's so cute, we get to make all the things for a spa day!  She really wanted to give me something different and something that would help me relax.  So cute!!  I can't remember if she had a gift card?  Then Jack gave me his coupon book he made at school along with a shrinky-dink necklace along with a puzzle I think everyone else picked out that looks pretty impossible :).  I'm pretty excited to see if we can do it.  Erika gave me a mini scrabble game along with a movie gift card!  We were both shocked the scrabble game has little tiles in it.  Noah gave me a package of chewy chips ahoy.  So good!  Along with a gift card- I need them all right in front of me, I'm forgetting where it was to.  Luke gave me a bag of cinnamon and sugar pretzels and a gift card to Buffalo Wild Wings.  We're gonna try to go on boneless wing night.  Brad gave me a note that said that he was writing his talk for five hours so he didn't have time to write me a card and then my gift of a volleyball net is coming!  Super excited for that!  Kelly wasn't here for the gift portion of the morning, but showed up after with a big poster of what she likes about me with cute drawings and stuff.  So fun!!  And she surprised me because she had told me she wasn't coming down today, but was able to get work off afterall.  Charity gave me a note that said my gift is coming as well.  They all gave me really thoughtful cards that made me tear up all morning!  I just love these kids!  I really can't be more grateful for the kids Heavenly Father put in my life.  I feel very lucky and very spoiled.  I am excited to go on dates and use the gift cards and use all my fun gifts.  Everyone was so thoughtful!  
Then at church, I got to hear a bunch of Mother's Day talks, which I love- talking about Christlike Poise and Mothers' poise.  Nate picked an awesome topic!  And the best part was hearing Bradley's talk!!  He did an amazing job!!  Even the part where he wasn't showering me with love and compliments was so great!!  I just loved it!!  It was hard to not be bawling the entire time!  He said so many sweet things.  Maybe I can get a copy of his talk and put it on here.  He's such a sweet boy, such a good friend to me.  I'm very very lucky to have Bradley.  Then I got to sit with my big girls all through Relief Society, giggling and being irreverent the entire time- that was fun :).  And then came home to making a sleeping mask with Molly as well as some lip balm!  So fun!  I'm just so happy I get to be a mom.  I don't think I deserve this family, but I sure love them!!  5-14-23

PASSPORT FOR BRADLEY
This was a huge satisfaction for me.  The past year I have been feeling like we needed to go get a passport started for Bradley.  I really wish we had followed through on that and just done it, but of course we had to now.  Thanks to Suzanne Wright, we scheduled an appointment and made it over to the Farmington offices and got his passport started.  This felt like a huge accomplishment.  I was glad Brad sacrificed his lunch to go do it.  Here we go!  5-15-23

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO US!!
22 years!!  Kinda crazy we've made it this far.  Kinda crazy NATE'S made it this far!!  I don't know how he does it!  He pours out so much love.  I don't think I ever imagined I would have this much love coming at me on a regular basis.  He is amazing.  I am so glad I made the choice I did to marry him and turn my life into something wonderful.  It is such a blessing!  5-15-23

BRADLEY SENIOR PHOTOSHOOT
Kelly came down and we went first to H&M for some new clothes, thenn over to the Farmington trail and then the brick wall in Kaysville.  I think we did a good job!  Got lots of pictures!  Brad was a good sport, had some fun.  I loved it!  It's always good to have Kelly's help and ideas too.  Fun times.  5-15-23

HOGLE ZOO WITH MOLLY
Sadie and I met up with Molly and her group at the zoo for a fun few hours!  We had so much fun!  I think we saw everything!  Molly seemed happy to have her sister and mom there and we got to enjoy the 1st grader Molly :).  It was a lot of fun.  I think the highlight was of course the polar bear!  So much fun!  He always puts on a good show.  5-16-23

ORCHESTRA CONCERT
We got to go watch Erika perform in her concert this week.  That was a lot of fun.  She does a great job!  I love hearing those cello notes and knowing they are hers.  It was a short and sweet two songs and then she went out with friend after to get ice cream at the creamery.  Pretty fun- she's growing up!  Great job, Erika!  5-16-23

COOL MIRACLE
Erika and I were hanging up a few State Track Kid posters on garages on Wednesday and we got up into Fruit Heights to this house that was a ways away, I don't think I even knew where I was.  We got the tape on the poster, got it all ready to hang up before hopping out of the car, and then as I shut my door I remembered that the car has been locking itself occasionally, even with the keys in the ignition, so I quickly asked Erika not to shut her door.  It was a quick little thought I acted on right away.  So she left hers open, we went and hung up the poster, got back to the car and sure enough, my door was locked!!  We would have been sort of stranded there, our phones were both in the car, the keys, the car was running!  Would have been a huge mess where I would have had to knock on someone's door probably!  SO INSANE!!  I was SO grateful we left Erika's door open.  What a huge blessing!!  Oddly enough, the next house, we both shut our doors, didn't think anything of it and they didn't lock, surprisingly and we did look like idiots racing to the car to beat the locks once we realized what we had done.  So funny.  But kind of a cool learning experience.  I was so grateful!!  5-17-23

OPEN GYM
She's back at it!  Erika went to open gym this morning and then soccer practice in the evening.  I think her foot is doing better.  Doesn't seem 100% yet, but definitely better!  5-18-23

BEES GAME WITH JACK
This was a really fun field trip!  One of my favorites for sure!  This time we actually got to ride the train and trax instead of a school bus.  It was so much fun!  Jack and Easton were in my group- Easton didn't really talk, but Jack and I had fun talking.  We watched the game pretty intently until we wanted some popcorn and snacks :).  Then Jack wanted a mini bat as well.  It was fun!  I think we killed the Las Vegas team!  Good times!  Our favorite part was watching the Jazz Bear down on the field warming up with the players, in the splits!  HA!  Funny bear.  Jack loved watching the player named Jack!  5-18-23

JACK'S WAX MUSEUM- BARNUM BROWN
I need to type up what Jack said about him, but he did an AWESOME job with this!  I was so proud of him for going all out!  We got him a cool fur coat that Jack actually loved wearing- HA, a hat and mustache.  I was pretty glad we got to go over and push all the fun little buttons and hear about all the kids' reports.  Sadie even liked it.  Jack did awesome!!  

"Hi, I'm Barnum Brown, I was born in 1863.  And died in 1973.  I was famous for being the first paleontologist to find the T-Rex remains.  When I was younger I really liked studying science and I really liked laying in the grass.  I faced many trials in my life but the hardest trial I faced was losing my wife."  5-19-23

PICNIC ON THE PLAYGROUND
We got to meet up with the kids on the school playground with Wendy's and Little Caesar's for picnic on the playground!  So much fun!!  It's a little different these days with just the two kids there!  But we had fun.  Sadie and Molly went and played on the playground for quite a while and I got to visit with Sis. Williams from our ward.  I didn't know her very well.  Erika made a guest appearance for a few seconds, we loved that!  It was nice!  Glad we get to do those things.  Next year I'm offering to pick up pizzas for everyone!  5-19-23

STATE CHAMPIONSHIP AT BYU- BRADLEY 4X4
This was it!!  The moment we'd all waited for!!  Brad left early with Victor.  We headed down after Noah's soccer game.  We waited for quite a while, they had been on schedule until the 4X4s, but the excitement was building up!  It was awesome that Nate made it down.  We waited some more.  Grandma Hatch showed up.  We waited some more :).  Then Brad and his team were finally up!  Last section of the last division, last heat... the very last race of the meet!  They ran an amazing race!!  Especially Brad!  I was so proud of him!!  They got a 1 second PR, got 7th place overall.  Very impressive!!  I was so proud of him!!  So glad he got to have this moment, and just so proud of him!!  We went over to Brick oven afterwards, that was awesome.  I loved his team's comments when they saw him sitting there with his family, eating already.  "Whoa, Brad, you have a family?" HAHA!  Then, "I KNEW you were 35!"  HAHA!!!  Funny kids.  His smile was adorable.  Good times!!  I really don't know what to say about this amazing track career he's had so far.  I hope he gets to come back and do a decathlon like he wants, or gets to do something else with it, after the mission.  He really excelled and made a name for himself!  Good job, Brad!!  So proud of ya!!  5-20-23

SEMINARY GRADUATION- BRADLEY
We had a great time at Bradley's seminary graduation.  Great speakers, great name reading :).  Just kidding.  I actually really loved the talks, and I loved that Brad just looked so amazing up there, getting his diploma.  He's such a handsome kid!  I really couldn't be more proud of him and all that he is doing right now.  So much is happening!  But he's doing it all with such poise.  Very cool.  We got pictures and cupcakes after.  Good stuff!  5-21-23

ANNOUNCEMENTS
We created Brad's announcements Sunday and got them off Monday- not a moment too soon.  They looked great!!  I was happy Brad let us use the one with him laughing on the announcement.  Grandma Hatch loved the hurdling pics too :).  5-22-23

LUNCH WITH MOM
My mom, Sadie and I met up at Penny Ann's Cafe for some lunch.  It was nice to spend some time together.  5-22-23

MEMORY MOVIE WITH MOLLY
Ms. Smith has been amazing with Molly this year- it was super fun of her to have us all over to watch the class memory movie.  I loved seeing Molly in her element and thinking about how much fun she's had this year!  It's been a really good year!!  5-22-23

DINNER AT KENZIE'S
This ended up being a really fun night!  We went over to Brad's friend Kenzie's house for dinner and fun.  It was fun to meet all his friends' families and talk a little.  I mostly talked with Brandon's mom about mission stuff, but it was so fun!  Very relaxing time!  Kenzie's parents are very nice!  It was fun being there.  5-22-23

FIELD DAY
I think this was my least favorite Field Day ever.  I mean, I hated it.  I usually love field day!  I don't know what's happened, but it was awful!!  Mostly I think it was the stupid station I was at- I had to do kickball with Kindergarten and first graders!  Not ideal.  Even with the fifth graders, they were just mad the whole time.  So that sucked.  Didn't help that we had a HUGE meltdown with Molly that morning over her shoes and she ended up wearing socks and then we had to go get her some shoes at the store... crazy!  But awful.  It was just an awful time!!  Made me sad.  I miss the old field days!!  5-23-23

CHOIR CONCERT
We got to go to Noah's choir concert Tuesday- luckily Jack's game was rained out we didn't have to choose between the two- He did awesome!  It was o fun to watch him!  I loved the song choices and loved seeing Noah own this performance!!  Fun stuff!  5-23-23

BRADLEY'S GRADUATION DAY!
This was huge!!  They didn't have graduation until 5:00, so we just got to bum around a little before, but then at about 2:00, we went over to the school with his friends and got a bunch of pictures on the football field, track and in front of the yellow D.  It was a lot of fun to have them together- probably the last time I get to be with all of them together.  Then I got to drive them up to Weber and drop them off.  They all looked so great in their caps and gowns.  They looked all grown up but were still cute, nervous kids.  I loved watching them.  I was able to go in and get us a seat, on row 21 for Grandma Ruthie.  It was an awesome graduation.  Great speeches, most of them were short and sweet.  I loved watching Brad.  It was fun waiting for his name.  We were all poised with our cameras, waiting to capture the moment.  He looked great on the jumbo tron.  Such a cute kid!!  Charity, Kelly, Nate, Me, Grandma Ruthie, Grandma Hatch, Simon and Grandpa Hatch were all there to support him!!  So great!  We went over to Red Lobster to celebrate after.  So much fun!!  I just love this kid!  I'm so excited for what he has ahead and to see what he does with his life.  He got to go to the all night party at Boondocks that night.  I didn't see him again til 1:00 the next day and even then, it was just to tell me he was going to keep sleeping :).  5-24-23

GAILEY PARK FIELD TRIP- JACK
This was Jack's last field trip.  Sadie and Erika and I met up with his grade over at Gailey Park.  It ws pretty fun to watch him pushing Sadie on the swing, he did that for a while.  He passed on the pizza and then as I was getting ready to leave because I needed to go pick up Nate from work (had to have the Prius to get the tires replaced), some girls started picking on Jack.  They were very rude and he was pretty hurt.  He was crying a little and so we sat down to talk for a minute.  I suggested that maybe he could just come home with me and he liked that idea.  I felt bad just taking him away, but I couldn't bear the thought of just ditching him there in that mood.  So I checked him out with Mrs. Moncur.  I hope his sixth grade year is more comfortable for him.  5-25-23

JACK BASEBALL
Jack has had a really good baseball season despite it being clear up in Roy.  I think he's had a good time.  His team and the parents are awesome!  I have loved working with Roy people.  Even the kids- one of them yelled out- JUST LIKE PRACTICE JACK-KNOCK IT OUT THERE!!  SO awesome!  I just love it.  He has scored a bunch of times, but being that it is team pitch he hasn't really been able to get a piece of the ball at practice.  He's got a good eye though!  5-25-23

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL
We had an awesome last day!!  Molly got to walk to the ponds- we took her a jacket, Erika and I- and then Nate had to cater lunch for the junior High so we all helped with the mad dash of that!  It was crazy how much he crammed into those last two hours!!  Amazing!!  I went over and got pictures of the kids with their teachers at their little flag ceremony and singing the national anthem- so cool!  It was a great year for both Molly and Jack!  I was very proud of them!!  We came home and got distracted and completely missed the end of year water party at Clemenses.  The kids were so mad.  But we did manage to have our Projector movie.  Super Mario Bros.  Only watched the first half outside because of some rain.  If only we'd waited a bit longer, it stopped by the time we got everyone inside.  Kinda funny.  But we had a good time!  Here's to another year!  5-26-23

ALUMNI GAME- KELLY
We got to go over to Davis for a fun Alumni Lacrosse Game!  Kelly did amazing!!  If we'd been keeping stats, her seven assists and two points would have put her at the top!!  Over their beloved Maci.  Not sure what makes Maci so special, but for some reason she is.  I was so proud of how well Kelly did!  She's still got it- even having not really played for two years!  Those other girls are on teams now!!  And the alumni team would have killed it had Kenzie not been such a horrible goalie.  I mean we won, but we would have won by a lot more if Morgan hadn't started playing on the field and turned over the goal.  Still good though!!  Fun stuff!!  Go Kelly!!!  She was pretty sore for days after- she earned that!  5-26-23

JACK SELLING SNACKS
Jack and Liam  have been selling snacks at Jami's Race Cats track meets- it's been really cool!  He's made a lot of money!!  Kinda cool!  He wants to go sell at the park during soccer games and stuff.  Fun stuff.  5-27-23

SUNDAY
Charity got surprised with giving the prayer in Sacrament meeting today and then she was set apart as a primary worker after church.  So excited for her!  She's very excited to teach the nine year olds.  This Sunday was a rough one for me.  I felt SO SICK!!  I came home and slept for like five hours.  5-28-23

MEMORIAL DAY
We had a great time at the ward breakfast.  Brad lead the flag ceremony.  We ate cold eggs, bacon, sausage and pancakes.  Kinda funny that they always want to do warm food at those breakfasts, but whatever.  I got to sit and talk with Bishop, Jay and then Emily and Charity.  Fun times.  We bummed around a bit after that, then ran some errands for Nate, picking up meat for another job.  Then we headed down to visit Nana's grave with Grandpa, Steve and Heidi and kids.  It was a nice time.  I love giving Nana a minute.  I love her so much!  Still!!  Then we drove down to Lynn and Ali's for barbecue.  This was a lot of fun too!  Talked mostly with Heather, Rachel, Nancy, Liz, Adam, Brad and Luke sat by me- I loved that!  Then on the way home I got to talk with Becky.  Fun stuff.  It was a great time!!  5-29-23

FIRST WEEK OF SUMMER
It's been a fun first week so far.  We've all had fun listening to Sadie and Owen play together.  All of the times Owen has said the words, "my mom said I could", "my mom let's me do that", and my personal favorite, "I'm gonna go ask my mom if I can go ______________ with you." (when he hasn't been invited- HA!  Sadie has tried out the new pool along with Molly and Jack, destroyed the game room with the styrofoam from the bean bag chairs, ridden on the wiggle cars way past the Clarks a few times, and taken a few naps completely on her own.  Not to mention watching Super Mario Bros a million times and renting it for $25 after we already purchased it for $30.  I think she is getting thoroughly worn out.  Funny girl.  Molly has spent a lot of time watching tv, playing her new Boddle account, activity days, snacking, and playing with the water.  Jack has been extra helpful and in a really good mood.  He has been whistling the theme to Jurassic Park for about three months straight and has not let up for summer ;).  He likes the switch and computer as well.  But has spent a lot of time outside too and finishing up his baseball season.  Erika has spent a little time at Station Park, running, babysitting, movies, cross country, and texting friends.  Noah has worked, worked, ran, worked, went to Lagoon and played with friends.  Luke has spent most of his time with friends, but we love having him around and having him to laugh at reels with.  He has spent some time on the switch, playing basketball, and eating ramen.  Brad has been extra busy lately.  He's gone fishing with the kids a few times, mowed the lawn, cleaned out his car, lots of very late nights with friends, orbeez gun fights, water fight, I can hear him practicing spanish occasionally, and having fun with Sadie.  It's been a full week!!  Kelly has been around a little and we catch glimpses of Charity along with Josh, but not a lot of time with them.  It's been a fun time!  5-31-23

APRIL 2023

 APRIL FOOLS

I made spaghetti pancakes for breakfast- just pancakes in the shape of noodles, it looked really cool with the ferrero rocher as meatballs!  I was pretty pleased with that.  Everyone did a prank or two.  There was yarn all over bedrooms.  Lots of tricks and fun things to remember it was April Fools.  4-1-23

SPRING BREAK
We had a pretty fun little Stay-cation-y Spring break this year.  Monday we went to Grannie Annie's bright and early for some scones.  Everyone was so well-behaved, I think this is the first time we've had such a pleasant time there.  Helped that there was almost nobody there.  We went swimming at the rec center that night.  That was a lot of fun too.  Everyone seemed to be having a great time!  I was thankful that Nate took care of Sadie most of the time- she liked jumping in to his arms.  I spent a lot of time in the lazy river with Molly and then the hot tub with Erika.  Fun stuff.  We missed Luke, Charity and Kelly.  4-3-23
Tuesday we played a lot of games and spent time at home and then in the evening we took the older kids- Bradley, Luke, Noah and Erika out on our "big kid date".  We went to dinner at Sushi Monster and then to Boondocks for some bowling.  This ended up being a major highlight for me.  I loved having this time with these kids together.  We had a lot of fun trying new sushi we hadn't tried before- the Vegas Roll!  We all loved bowling, I think Brad won.  So much fun!  We decided we were more fun than the family next to us who we never saw say two words to each other- it was a little strange.  But so fun with the big kids!  I'm so glad they will do these things with us.  We were bummed that the weather was crummy so Charity and Kelly weren't able to come down, but we had a great time. 4-4-23
Wednesday we babysat Porter and Alyssa and since we had been dumped on with snow over the night, we ended up bagging our plans and had a snow day!!  Brad had so much ambition that day- he was the ring leader.  He and Jack started a snowman, we all kind of contributed, but it ended up taking a couple ladders and so many hands to get the head on top and all of the accessories.  It was about 10 feet tall!  It was SO AMAZING!!  People driving by were stopping to take pictures of it!  So cool!  Then Brad ran over to the field with a bunch of the kids and then eventually his friends and made a giant igloo!  Took them all day!  So fun though!  I was so happy we finally got to play in the snow- we've had so much this year!!  Actually more than Utah has seen in over 40 years!  Pretty cool!  Fun memories.  4-5-23
Thursday was our "little kid date".  We took the little three to McDonalds's and then to Classic Fun Center for some fun.  This was a fun date as well.  Funny how different it is to take these three out verses the older three at their ages-ish.  We got to hear all about the girl who things God put her in the wrong body and identifies as a boy while we were eating- super lame- I'm shocked because we were in Kaysville of all places, but the kids never get to eat at McDonald's so they were thrilled either way :).  Classic was a lot of fun.  They did the bounce houses for quite a while and then we moved on to the arcade- that was pretty cute.  Fun to see what they chose to do with their tokens/cards.  They all picked out prizes and we were done, but it was so much fun spending that time with them.  We need to do this more often.  4-6-23
Friday was our Mario Movie day!  Kelly came down!  We went and picked up Uncle Steve and we all went to see Mario Movie together.  Popcorn, treats from home, it was the perfect event!  Everyone loved the movie!  I was so glad!  Then we went over to Costa Vida for lunch.  I loved it!  Such a fun day!  Afterwards Charity and Josh showed up and we had our game night.  That was a lot of fun.  We all stayed up way too late, but so fun!  4-7-23

EASTER SATURDAY
After the first talk of conference being about making Easter more about Christ's Resurrection, we decided to do our Easter bunny stuff on Saturday.  I think it went pretty well and it was fun to have two days to call Easter.  Saturday morning we got up bright and early to look for baskets!  This was a lot of fun.  Everyone was really cute as they found theirs.  I love how excited everyone gets even though it's usually just something simple.  We tried to go a little out this year, just for fun.  Sadie was loving it all, kind of like it was her first Easter again.  Very excited by all the eggs in the backyard- that was cute.  So after baskets, we gathered eggs in the back.  The kids got spoiled rotten by the Easter bunny in candy form, holy moly!  There was plenty for sure!  I see cavities in our near future.  After the eggs we colored our hard boiled eggs.  I know I say this every year, but I just love our system for doing eggs.  Its so satisfying!  Always goes so well.  Everyone seemed to have fun.  Kelly had to leave before she finished, but she got into it and made her friends on her eggs :).  Bradley did as he always does and made very bright bold colors.  I loved his space looking one.  Luke takes this very seriously as well.  He had fun and made some cool eggs.  Noah was quiet during this, but I think he was entertained.  I don't think this is his favorite thing, but he humors me.  Erika got into it, made some really fun eggs.  Same with Jack!  He was very artistic.  Molly looked like a mini Kelly drawing details on all of hers.  She had some very creative ones with a sunrise and sunset... lots of cute creativity.  It was fun to see her get so into it.  I don't think she finished either.  And Sadie did her eggs with some help this year.  I think she had a lot of fun.  She doesn't have the longest attention span, but she managed to trade away all her cracked ones :).  I think this was success this year.  I loved it!  After we cleaned up the egg mess, way later than finishing cuz we were waiting for stragglers to finish theirs- I started on Porter's cake!  Heidi wanted a shark cake that she had toppers for so I just did a really simple cake.  I wish I'd paid more attention to the toppers, I may have done it differently.  But I was SO happy with how smooth it turned out!  Even with three layers!  That doesn't usually happen.  My research paid off.  Everyone kind of parted ways at this point in the evening, there were parties and dates, but Erika, Jack, Molly, Sadie and I went over to Heidi's to celebrate Porter's birthday.  Grandpa Hatch and Jo were there, we had a lot of fun playing pin the fin on the shark and eating cake and ice cream.  Fun night!  4-8-23

EASTER SUNDAY
We had a really nice peaceful Easter Sunday this year.  I actually really loved that we didn't have to cram so much stuff in before church like we usually do.  We were able to have Nate home and ate Creamed Eggs on Toast for breakfast.  Then kind of a mad dash to get dressed and to church.  But we made it :).  I sang with the Choir and we sang a really beautiful song by Sally DeFord called Because He Lives.  I loved it!  This was Janeel's last song with us.  I still feel like we failed her.  We only had the one hour for church, so we got to come home and spend the rest of the evening together.  We were able to focus on the Savior's Resurrection, we went around the room and talked about what the Resurrection means to us.  I wish I'd gotten the egg thing together, but we watched Don't Miss This which was awesome and had a good time together.  Charity and Kelly and their friends Kora, Josh and now I can't remember the other girl's name all came down for a nice dinner.  We had pot roast and potatoes.  It was actually a really nice day so we sat out front to eat.  So nice!  I loved it!  Nate and I stayed up all hours of the night talking with Charity and Josh :).  That was fun too. 4-9-23

ABC DINNER
This has become a really fun way to do dinner over the years.  I love that the kids still like it.  We were supposed to do it as part of Spring Break but we missed it for some reason, so we did it Monday.  The teams were: Luke and Molly on Appetizer.  They had M and did mozzarella sticks.  Brad, Noah and Sadie had the main dish and the letter E so they did Egg sandwiches (after I vetoed their 80 minute cook time Enchiladas).  Jack and I had the side and the letter R so we did a Raspberry yogurt salad, super yummy!  Nate and Erika had dessert and the letter M and they did Mango sorbet-ish type stuff.  It was a very delicious dinner!  Everyone was pretty happy with it I think :).  Fun times.  4-10-23

MOLLY'S BROKEN WRIST
Bea was letting Molly have turns on her scooter and on one of Molly's turns she came back and didn't stop right when Bea asked her to, so she shoved her off of it.  Poor Molly fell on her hand and came in the house crying.  She seemed pretty hurt and it wasn't the dramatic crying that she sometimes does, so I was a little worried, but didn't want to jump to conclusions.  We got some ice on it, gave her some motrin and sent her to bed.  I had hoped a little sleep would make it feel better, but sure enough, the first thing she said when she woke up was that her arm hurt.  Rats.  I decided to monitor it all morning and watched her getting dressed.  She was able to do so many things with her wrist and seemed mostly fine, but as soon as she tried to pull up her skirt and couldn't and started to cry, I knew.  I knew it needed to be x-rayed :).  I wasn't going to stop worrying about it until we did.  We went right over to the instacare as soon as we dropped off Jack at school.  It was pretty funny because by the time the doctor was looking at it and having her move it in certain ways, ways she seemed perfectly comfortable moving it, I was pretty sure it was totally fine.  Feeling really dumb that I had brought her in there, but then!  The doc came in just as surprised as me and announced that she actually did have a buckle fracture in her radius.  Shocker!  Poor tough little Molly!  So they got her suited up with a brace, told us she could play soccer, and sent us on our way :).  HAHA!  Here's to hoping she heals enough for soccer.  4-10-23

BASEBALL DRAFT FOR JACK
We missed the Kaysville Rec deadline for baseball so I went searching for a nearby city to go through.  Roy was the closest.  I was hesitant, but he wanted to play baseball so bad I gave in.  He's really excited :).  He had his draft on Tuesday and according to Nate did really well and connected with the ball quite a few times.  I'm excited to see him play- it's going to be so fun :).  4-11-23

MINISTERS
Our ministers Greg Richardson and Bryan Radik came by Tuesday evening and we had fun talking to them about what we like to eat and then the creek/possible flooding.  We have really awesome ministers.  But we found out in a text a little later that Greg has lymphoma.  He was telling us so that we would know why he's not doing as much, but makes us want to do something for him.  Hopefully prayer helps for now.  4-11-23

KJH TRACK MEET
This was much anticipated!  Noah and Erika were so excited!  Noah signed up for the 110 hurdles and the 1600.  He did great on his hurdles.  Then knocked the mile out of the park!  I think he got his PR time, so he was wishing for a better time, but did so awesome!  Erika signed up to run the 100 hurdles, 1600, and 800.  She did amazing in her hurdles!  We were so impressed!  She'd been put in a faster heat and got 2nd place!  7th overall- scoring points for the team!  So awesome!  Then she ran the mile and we could tell things weren't quite right.  She started out just fine, but slowed down quite a bit before the end.  She did great, just not what she had expected.  Then a little later she ran the 800 and there was definitely something wrong.  She came through the finish line and her foot was just in excruciating pain!  They of course didn't have any ice and she was trying to play it cool for sure, but was in a lot of pain.  Come to find out she had hurt it during the mile!  So she ran most of a mile and 800 M with a very hurt foot- tough girl!!  All because the coaches told the kids they are not allowed to talk about pain to them.  I had to set the record straight with Erika and that she should listen to her body, but ugh.  We're hoping it can heal over the weekend for her track meet Monday, as long as she stays off it.  Fingers crossed.  But it was a fun track meet overall!  4-12-23

WEDNESDAY
We had four kids at three track meets with adventure days and activity days in between it all for two other kids!!  Such a juggling act!!  I went up to Syracuse High to watch Erika and Noah while Nate went to Davis to watch Lukey and he took Jack to Adventure days.  Then Nate went down to Woods Cross to watch Brad and then because they were so behind schedule, I was able to get down to Woods Cross for Brad's second race while Nate took Molly to activity days!  Kinda nuts, but we pulled it off!  Everyone had cheerers at all their events and everyone was where they needed to be!  Crazy fun!  4-12-23

LUNCH WITH MOM
My mom and I went to lunch this week.  We went to this new place by Cabellas called Aubergine's?  It was really yummy!  It had a total health food vibe so I want to take Nate and Kelly there.  I got the coconut curry- super good!  It would have been better if Sadie had eaten her food and hadn't spilled her drink and if the toilet was flushing in the bathroom, but other than that- a nice little break from the day. 4-13-23

PHOENIX INVITE
Brad did so well at this meet!  We were so proud of him!  I was sure his pulled hamstring would keep him from running his 4X4, but nope!  He pulled out an amazing run!  Still trying to qualify for state, but they're close!!  4-14-23

DATE NIGHT
For our date night we watched Brad run at Farmington High.  He had a few races so we were able to watch a couple, sneak off for some Sushi Monster, and then back for his last race.  He did so good and it was so fun to watch him!  We saw Brandon's parents also and got to talk to them for a little while, that was fun.  It was a really nice night though, just hanging out together.  4-14-23

NO SOCCER THIS WEEK
Since the older kids don't start til next week and with Molly having a broken wrist we opted out of her first game this season and didn't have any games this week.  We will see if she's able to play her next one, she's pretty anxious to play, but we'll see.  The doctor at the instacare said it was fine, but Uncle Brent said, "Absolutely not!" so we'll see :).  4-15-23

BABYSITTING PORTER AND ALYSSA
Heidi was going on a hot date really late so we got to have Alyssa and Porter sleep over!  It went really well!  I loved that Porter and Jack conspired and had him get all his stuff in Jack's room instead of where I had planned for him to sleep next to Alyssa, but they were right- that was better.  They slept all night as far as I know :).  All was well until Heidi left her phone at the guy's house and didn't have her alarm to wake up.  Luckily Kelly was fine with staying here with them til Heidi could get here.  Kelly was planning on going to a different ward up in Logan and then that idea got scratched, so she came and joined us for Sunday School.  It's always fun to have her around, but I felt bad she missed the sacrament.  She's always so helpful and sacrificing.  4-15-23--4-16-23

SUNDAY
We did cool water color looking canvases with quotes on them for our craft- I'm excited to hang them up in the hallway.  Then we were going to have brownie chex mix, but my Walmart order never came so we had something I can't remember right now for dessert.  My brain is not recalling things very well.  It was a nice Sunday though.  Charity and Josh took Jack, Molly and Sadie off to the park for some fun while I took a nap :).  Then we had spaghetti for dinner and played out on the front lawn.  It was really nice.  4-16-23

ERIKA SPRAINED FOOT
So Erika's pain had just gotten too unbearable and even though I didn't think she could break any bones running, I had to take her in.  To get a boot if nothing else, but I really did want the x-ray.  Fortunately they couldn't see any broken bones (although they always add the caveat that there could still be broken bones that they just can see because of the many angles you would need to see all the bones in the foot, so we should take her back in in a few weeks for another x-ray to know for sure if there were any fractures- not sure we'll do that, but good to know), so they put her in a boot (I was going to request one if they didn't offer it, luckily they did) and told her to use crutches as well.  Hopefully she will be able to heal now!  She had to miss her track meet that day, but did so good at keeping a positive attitude.  Here's to healing before her track meet on the 26th!  4-17-23

RANDY ANDERSON VIEWING/FUNERAL
I was so sad to hear about Andrea's dad this week.  I know how much she loved him and how close they were, it was hard to imagine what she must be feeling like.  She's been really tough though and keeps saying how she's glad he's not in pain.  She's right.  I guess he hasn't really been himself for a while. That would be so hard though.  I was able to go to the viewing and funeral Monday.  Thanks to Nate taking Sadie home it was actually really nice to be able to talk with Andrea for a minute and then sit and hear the whole funeral.  He was a really cool dad.  You could tell that family was a priority to him.  I was wondering what my kids would say about me at my funeral and it made me want to be a little more intentional about how I parent and the way I treat my kids.  I get rushed I think and less in the moment.  I need to work on that.  But it was so good to see Andrea.  And I got to see Eric too!  That was cool!  He was really nice to talk to as well, just for a few minutes.  I was surprised there weren't more people from the 54th ward there! 4-17-23

TRACK MEET
Noah did an awesome job at his track meet on Monday!  He did great on the hurdles and then got a PR on his mile!  5:48!!  Good job Noah!  4-17-23

FHE
Noah taught our lesson, we watched the Good Samaritan video- the one set in today's world.  Very cool.  We had a nice discussion about it all and then played King Pig.  I was holding a sleeping Sadie so I just watched, but it was really fun.  We used signs that go with things you can do to be close to Heavenly Father and the Savior.  Jack's treat was ice cream!  4-17-23

ORTHODONTIST SPRINGS
Noah and Erika both committed the awful crime of not wearing their elastics enough and were fitted with springs on Tuesday.  This was not a happy thing for them.  Both of them have been in a lot of pain and can't eat anything solid.  Erika was especially bugged by how she looks.  So this is fun.  Hopefully it's not too long that they have to wear them!  4-18-23

ROMANIAN LADY AND HER DAUGHTER
I was taking Jack to the store to get a gift for Will and this cute little Romanian lady and her daughter stopped us in the parking lot.  She was saying that they needed coats because it was so cold outside, and it really was, but they did have jackets on.  I wasn't sure how to help her with no cash, so I offered to go in and buy her something and she was so happy, she wanted to come with us, so she followed us in and then we wandered through the clothing for quite a while looking for coats.  Since it's April there weren't any coats, but she did find some leggings and her daughter found some shoes she wanted.  It took a minute but I was so grateful for an opportunity to use what we had just learned in family night the night before.  I wanted to help her with more but she didn't seem to want anything else, like food or anything.  She started telling me, in her broken English, that she wanted a place to stay because they are living in their car, and asked for $50, but I just can't hand out that kind of cash for some reason.  I tried to buy her more stuff and she didn't want anything else, but I did get $20 cash back to give her after we checked out.  She was so cute, kept hugging and kissing me and telling me that my Jesus loves me.  She was really sweet.  We said goodbye to them and went and bought Jack's gift for Will and then headed back out to the car.  By then I had realized that it would be really easy to go home and get some blankets and coats for them and bring them back, so I drove around the parking lot to find them to offer that to them and when we found them they were headed back into the store with a man, and they had turned toward the McDonald's so I was really happy that they were getting some more help.  We just came home.  I might put some extra blankets and coats in the car though, just to have for these occasions (assuming it's going to stay winter forever).  It was nice to help her but I still wonder if I should have done more.  4-18-23

LUKE'S LAST BIG MEET
Luke ran his 110 hurdles and 300 hurdles at Syracuse High on Wednesday in what was probably his last big meet of the year.  He did so good!  Broke 21 on his 110, a PR and got 50. something on his 300!!  Also a PR.  So proud of him!!  This was a beautiful day, but so cold, we felt bad we didn't dress the littles warmer to sit and watch, but we were lucky enough to see both races!  4-19-23

DATE NIGHT
We went on our date Thursday instead of Friday this week because of Brad's track meet Friday, but we ended up havin got squeeze it in after Jack's baseball practice up in Roy.  It was okay though, worked out just fine.  And it was super nice of Christie to do the Young Women Dodgeball so I didn't have to.  We went to Sushi Monster and it was delicious!  4-21-23

BRAD AT THE WOODS CROSS INVITE
It was pouring rain ALL afternoon but the track meet went on!  Nate, Erika on her crutches and I were able to head down to Woods Cross to see Brad run the 300 hurdles.  We got there with about 15 minutes to spare, which was funny.  It was really cold as we stood there with our umbrellas.  He did such a great job!!  Especially since it was freezing cold raining the entire time and then as he came around the turn a kid tripped and fell, falling right in his path, so he had to step around him after his hurdle.  It was pretty remarkable (unfortunately, after the race I learned that that moment was not caught on video because of a pole!  UGH!!).  His form had been looking perfect up to that point, his steps were right on, but then after that little trip up he studdered a little before the last few hurdles.  Still looked amazing and we are so proud of him!  I just felt bad for him that that had happened right then.  He didn't quite PR, but like he said, it was wet, cold, and there is room for improvement.  I was really proud of him!!  Oh and he got 2nd place overall :).  Shows how hard he is on himself.  Great run though!!  So proud!!  4-21-23

GAME NIGHT
We had a game night last night, so much fun!!  It was really only Erika, Molly and I since Nate was making cheesecake for PROM, Brad was hot tubbing, Luke was off on his day date to Clark Planetarium, Noah was at his friend's house, Jack was feeling nauseous on the couch downstairs, and Sadie was sleeping!  PHEW!  But we had SO MUCH FUN!!  We played my game choice first (we drew names to decide who got to pick the game) I picked Bananagrams!  Then Molly picked the new Princess Bingo game (not sure what it's called) we played that a million times.  It was really fun to finally play it with the tokens- Sadie and I hadn't gotten to that point yet.  Super fun though.  Then we learned how and played about three games of Sushi Go that Erika got in her Easter basket!  SO much fun!!!  I really like that game.  It's like a different game every time you play it.  You almost can't use the same strategy twice.  We watched a movie after- called Ohana something- after trying a different movie and witnessing a guy to guy kiss (gross by the way- why is that still PG?), this one was okay.  Had a weird reference to "mormon missionaries" and the acting was sub par, but the kids seemed to like the treasure hunting aspect.  It's supposedly inspired by Goonies, thankfully there wasn't as much vulgar language.  Good times though.  Late late night, I think we went to bed at midnight!  So much for my new bedtime.  4-21-23

SOCCER
We had some fun soccer games this week.  Erika decided to go cheer on her team in her crutches, pretty cool team mate.  They finally pulled out a win- stressed Erika out while they were losing ;).  Molly's game was at the same time so we sent Erika with Kate.  Molly did great as well!  And then we hurried over to Angel Street to watch Brad play his very first soccer game!  He looked like a pro!  Nobody would ever know it was his first time playing on a rec team.  Noah's game was later and his was also a really great game!  Noah looked awesome as usual.  It's fun that this season is finally underway.  We're enjoying our elongated winter/actual spring, but missing out on sports wasn't fun!  4-22-23

PROM 2023 BRAD AND LUKE
Prom was a success this year!!  Everything seemed to go very smoothly.  Nate did the food for Luke's group, they ate at Noriega's.  He also did the cheesecake desserts for Luke's group and Brad's group!  So much fun for Nate :).  He loves being asked to cook.  No seriously!  With the Forerunner out of commission, and Brad needing the van for his group- I got to drive Nate to work :).  It was a mad dash getting food delivered, Noah ready for his soccer game, and then rushing Nate to work barely on time and then hurrying back to get everyone to Noah's game.  Kind of crazy, but we made it!  The boys seemed really happy with their dates and how the evening went for both groups.  I wish I'd gotten a picture of them together, but it sounded like a really fun night!  Couldn't be prouder of these boys and the way they are handling their lives.  They're just so awesome.  4-22-23

KELLY'S POSITIVITY
Kelly posted her story and some feelings about the past two years.  I need to share it on here too.  She's so incredible and such a positive influence and example to everyone around her.  So proud of her and the way she is overcoming the challenges in her life.  4-24-23

KELLY WITH JASON SMITH
We finally got Kelly back into Jason's office.  It was a really good visit.  We talked a lot about how far Kelly has come, how much she's improved.  It was a really positive experience.  The aids were all happy to see her and wanted to hear about what was going on in her life.  It was really neat.  I love it when Kelly gets the love and attention she shows others.  It seems only fair.  4-25-23

STEM NIGHT AT COLUMBIA
While Kelly and I were at her appointment with Jason, Nate took everyone else to STEM night at the Elementary school.  Sounded like it was a big hit.  I'm bummed I didn't get to go in Jack and Molly's classrooms and oooh and aaah over their work.  I like that part.  But they all had fun.  4-25-23

TEMPLE BAPTISMS
We made an appointment a long time ago to go to the temple on Wednesday, during our late start.  It ended up being the same day as Noah's track meet so he didn't really feel like getting up at 4:45 am.  So we missed him and Erika is still in her boot and crutches so we talked her out of going.  But Bradley, Luke and Brandon all came!  It was a great time!  This was Luke's first time baptizing!!  My one regret is that I didn't have family names so I didn't get to be baptized.  But I did get to watch them as a witness and it was so neat!  Watching those boys trade places in the font and baptizing each other- very cool!  The Spirit was so strong!  I loved it so much I made plans for us to come back the next week!  4-26-23

ERIKA OBGYN
We finally took Erika to the OBGYN on Wednesday.  This was a long awaited appointment.  Unfortunately, not any real solid answers.  They gave us a little glimmer of hope and then told us to go see someone else.  Big surprise.  That is 2 for 2 with this OBGYN Peterson-Rodriguez or something.  Anyway.  Kind of annoying.  We'll get to the bottom of it soon though!  4-26-23

MOLLY LUNCH WITH THE MAYOR
This was a very exciting thing for Molly!  She was chosen to have lunch with the Mayor on Wednesday!  Molly was actually really excited and not nervous at all, which I thought was really cool.  I didn't want to change that by pressuring her to wear anything particular, or making her change, so she ended up in a very mismatched outfit that day :).  She was so happy though, it was fun to see her so excited for this thing that she wasn't really even sure what it would be.  She went and said it was really awesome.  She wished that it was something they did every day and that they could go be with the mayor on their own, without everyone else :).  I love that.  She seemed to love it.  She failed to mention the roundabout or ask when they were going to start working on it.  I can't imagine why she didn't want to talk about that :).  I'm so proud of Molly though!  Her little picture she brought home says it all on the back- Miss Smith wrote out this paragraph about Molly and all that she contributes to her class and what a cool girl she is.  I should go get a picture of it.  She really has been such a great student this year and done so much good in her class!  I'm so proud of her!!  It's pretty cool that we're still pumping out Maynes kdis that get this privilege :).  I think most of our kids have gotten to do this.  4-26-23

NOAH'S TRACK MEET
Noah did so awesome at his track meet!  Cut off a whole like 30 seconds off his mile time!  SO IMPRESSIVE!!  He decided he didn't want to do the hurdles and took off his watch for the mile- seemed to help!  5:28 Mile!!  Go Noah!!  4-26-23

BRING YOUR KIDS TO WORK DAYS
Brad, Noah and Jack went on Monday.  They went bright and early with Nate in the morning and then I picked them up at lunch time.  We grabbed some Wendy's and got them back to school.  They had a lot of fun though!  Especially working out :).  Erika and Molly went on Thursday and went early as well and then I picked them up at lunch.  They got to eat at Nate's work though.  It was a fun time for them.  Molly's favorite part was drawing on the thing- whatever that was :).  I love the pics of Erika on the bike in her boot, working out!  Fun stuff.  I'm glad they get to go to Nate's work and see what he does.  They even got some busier traffic on Thursday.  It's pretty cool for them.  We'll see if anyone ends up doing this when they get older :).  4-27-23

LUNCH WITH PAPPY
Sadie and I got to meet up with Grandpa at Olive Garden again.  Our second monthly lunch.  We had a great time.  It was cute that Molly was anxious for him to get there, since we got there first, and then so sad when he left while we were in the bathroom.  I think I need to explain things better to her.  But she was a good girl and we had a great time!  4-27-23

TEMPLE ENDOWMENTS
Nate and I got to go to the temple for our date night.  We stopped at Five Guys for some overdressed dinner- have I mentioned how much I love hamburgers right now?  I don't know what it is, I could eat them every day!!  This was nice.  We went up to the Bountiful temple.  I loved it.  Such a nice time together.  4-28-23

DAVIS INVITE/SOCCER GAMES/BASEBALL PRACTICE
Saturday was packed!  So much happening!  We got to watch Brad do his 110 hurdles in the morning.  Rushed Jack and Nate off for baseball practice.  Then we watched most of Molly's soccer game and then rushed off to see Brad do his 300 hurdles.  That was the maddest dash ever!!  I totally thought we were going to miss it, but we made it!  He did awesome!  PR!!  We got to go home for a lot of the afternoon, then Noah's game at 3:30, then rushed off again for Brad's 4X2 and then dinner, Brad's medley, then his 4X4 which the littles came to with me and all got to see him with his medal on the podium!  His 4X4 team has been great this year and will go to State together.  Such a fun thing!!  For all of us!!  Such a full day, but we made it!!  I forgot to throw in that I took 60 baked potatoes to the cafeteria for the big dinner.  Kinda crazy day!!  We had a great time though!  4-29-23

STAKE CONFERENCE
We had an awesome stake conference.  We had to sit on the hard chairs which is always... hard.   But I think we did okay.  This was a special one because Brad was sustained to get ordained as an Elder!!  So awesome!  The people behind me stopped me after to tell me how beautiful my family is and that Brad just has this amazing glow about him.  So sweet.  4-30-23

BRAD'S ORDINATION TO ELDER
We invited Grandma and Simon and Grandpa Hatch (Grandma Ruthie was invited also, but she was not able to be there), we met in the old YW rooms of the Stake center (brought back memories).  Travis was our high councilor and he conducted the little meeting.  Bishop, Jay and Bro. Worthen (Elder's Quorum Pres) were there as well.  It was pretty special.  Brad was ordained and given a beautiful blessing by Nate.  I loved it!  This is so cool!  Just one more step in the right direction!  Good job Bradley!!  We love you!!  Nothing afterwards, but Grandpa came by and relished in the moment with us.  4-30-23

DINNER AT MY MOM'S
We went to my Mom's on Sunday for a little dinner.  That was nice.  She had arranged it with Charity, so I think we were all just extras to Charity and Josh's fancy dinner.  We had a great time!  I'll never forget the stink that came out of our car as we were leaving though.  I'm glad it wasn't a fart from Brad or Noah, although I wish I'd found the source before the next morning's carpooling.  Nate's shaker bottle lid had cracked open just the slightest bit!  SO RANK!!  Holy moly!!  Good times.  4-30-23