October 2025

CRAMPS OF DEATH
This is not an exaggeration AT ALL!!  I felt like I was being ripped apart and my insides were on fire.  So torturous.  I was not able to function for about 24 hours!!  Thankfully, it was mostly over by mid Thursday.  Came back for a few minutes on Friday and then gone.  I took lots of ibuprofen and tylenol, which I don't love, but needed to do.  10-1-25

PARENT/TEACER CONFERENCES
We had our conferences this week!  So great!!  Sadie was first.  She is doing wonderfully!  Ms. Smith loves her!!  She did mention that maybe she could use less ice packs :).  Which made us laugh a little.  But she was very happy with Sadie's progress and her attitude in class.  And her frenemy Caroline :).  Molly was next- she is doing fantastic as well!  It was such a wonderful time, hearing about how good she is doing academically as well as with the friends.  Her teacher loves her.  They both got to pick out books in the book fair!  I got to talk to Emily Hansen and all was well when we got home.  10-1-25

MINISTERING
Erika and I did it!!  So fun to talk to Karen and we didn't over stay our welcome this time! 10-2-25

BREAKFAST DATE WITH CHARITY
Charity has a very busy schedule now that she's married :).  So we squeezed in a little breakfast date Friday morning.  It was really nice!  I was so glad Nate was willing to let me go and did the morning stuff.  Charity and I get to talk to our hearts' content and change from subject to subject whenever we feel like it, with no breaks in between :).  So great!  Love that girl.  10-3-25

DATE NIGHT WITH THE DESMONDS
We got to go out with the Desmonds this week!  That was fun!  Texas Roadhouse and chatting the entire time.  So fun.  I love hanging out with them, it's always so chill and the conversation is just so relatable.  10-3-25

GENERAL CONFERENCE
We really thought they were going to do a solemn assembly this weekend, but because Pres. Nelson has not been buried yet, they are waiting.  It's a little strange to feel like we don't have A Prophet.  But all is well.  It has been a really powerful conference so far- still only two sessions in.  I have loved it!!  I'm excited to study these talks mostly!  10-4-25

JACK'S TYPE 1-IVERSARY
We never did decide what we wanted to do for his one year anniversary, but it's here.  He's had Type 1 for one year officially.  So crazy to think that it's been that long, I still feel new.  He's doing so good!  We are getting the hang of things and it goes pretty well.  I've been so proud of Jack and so happy for all that he is able to do along with this challenge.  You got this Jack!!  One year down :).  10-4-25

THE REST OF CONFERENCE
We got to have Charity and Hunter here for the Sunday sessions of conference, that was fun.  They came Saturday night actually so they were able to enjoy Creamed Eggs on Toast with us and all the sleeping in that we all do :).  It was a great day for conference.  Some really awesome talks.  I loved Elder Holland's mention that sometimes our prayers are answered or miracles are performed with the plainest materials.  So interesting.  It was fun to hear form President Oaks even though he's not technically the prophet yet.  Kinda crazy that they had to wait til after, but I'm a go along girl.  I'm sure it was for good reason.  I have faith that the Leaders of the Church are running things the way the Lord would if He were here.  10-5-25

BRAD'S FIRST BREAK UP AND PRESIDENT NELSON'S VIEWING
I don't know if I've said much about Kayden, Brad's first girlfriend.  She was around a little and it was fun to meet her and get to know her a little.  I am so proud of Brad though.  He had seen some red flags - she was making it hard for him to stick with his habits and keeping all of his yesses and nos from the lists he made and so he was starting to feel like they should break up, but was also torn because of the fact that she is a very good person.  I was so proud of him for praying about it, including the Lord and thinking about it during conference.  I'm so grateful he got the message that he did and that he had Heavenly Father's help breaking things off.  I'm sure it wasn't hard.  He did the right thing though.  I'm really proud of him.  10-6-2025

FHE
Molly did our lesson, we played Sadie's game hide and go seek and then ate yummy Swedish candy for Nate's treat.  It felt a little forced this week, kind of hard to get everyone to focus.  Better luck next week.  10-6-25

BRAD'S 21ST BIRTHDAY!
I kept wanting to do more and then I would get reminder that he is an adult.  He doesn't need me babying him for his birthday anymore and that he needs to move away from birthdays being like they are as kids.  So I did a little, but tried to hold back too.  We did slave over a cute sign for him the night before- just Erika and I.  It looked SO GOOD!  He came on my walk with me which was super fun.  We ran into Bradon's mom and got to talk to her for a minute and then the soccer field line drawing robot's owner was sitting there and so we had to ask him some questions too :).  It was a great walk.  WE didn't go to lunch much to Brad's dismay, but we had a nice day.  In the evening everyone (and I mean everyone!) showed up for Brad's family party.  He had invited a few extras: The Wolsey's (he was trying to sell them window cleaning and became best buds with them of course and invited them- pretty sweet that they came) and Pierce.  Then Grandpa, Grandma and Simon, Grandma Ruthie and Jen, The Taylors (most of them) including Sierra and Matt, even Evan and Hannah showed up!  It was a good time!  Nate made delicious hamburgers and we used beans and salmon from his recent catering order leftovers.  It was great!  We all ate and visited and then we headed over to the park for a big game of kickball!  It was so much fun!!  So many joined in, it was great!  Hopefully grandpa is feeling okay from his slide on the grass.  It was so fun to have everyone there and celebrating Brad.  He deserved a nice time.  We gave him our gift- calisthenic bars.  He got some money, treats, cards, a gift card to Nike.  So pretty spoiled :).  I'm just so prpoud of this kid.  I am so excited to see what he does with his drive and discipline.  He's really goign to do awesome.  I don't worry about him at all.  Happy Birthday, Brad!!  10-7-25

KELLY AND DEVAN ARE HOME!!!
We had the pleasure of being Kelly and Devan's first stop coming home from Alaska today!  What a sight!  It was very unreal, but we were so excited!!  They came home, we loaded them back up in our car and we all went and got some Mo' Betta's for lunch with the highschoolers.  It was SO GREAT!!  They got to hang around with us a little til the evening- Kelly's fan club were very pleased with her presence and so grateful for the time they gave us!  We picked up the Elementary kids and headed over to the Sugar Moose for some candy.  Everyone was so happy.  Such a relief to have them back!!  10-8-25

KELLY AND DEVAN'S COUCH WITH BRAD
Brad and I got recruited to pick up a couch from the DI and take it to their new place on Thursday.  That was pretty fun.  Any time with Brad is a good time.  Add Kelly and Devan and you're set.  We waited out the afternoon until they were able to get the keys from the Lasts and then we moved the couch and all their other stuff up to their new place.  I was very relieved to get so much of it out of the crawl space :) and it was fun to see Kelly with all of her things and know that she will finally be able to unpack their little space and enjoy that part of newlywed-ness.  I'm happy for her.  10-9-25

DRESSER FOR ERIKA
I found a cheap dresser on FB marketplace and had to have it for Erika- her teal one is on it's last lap... might even have just given up on the race entirely, so it was time for a replacement.  It ended up being a really nice, sturdy one!  I am really happy with it actually!  It has a couple stains on the top, but I think we might try to find a cute way to cover that.  Stencil and paint maybe?  Anyway- I think Erika likes it.  I liked being with Nate to pick it up.  Got distracted driving there and then were sent to the wrong place at first.  Good times.  10-10-25

DATE NIGHT
There was a bit of a mad dash before our date this week.  I was taking a dresser up to Kelly and Devan with Brad, dropping him off to sell up in the almost Mueller Park neighborhood.  And rushing back to Nate being done with what he had going on.  It was a little nuts for some reason but I'm drawing a blank why at the moment.  Nate and I went to The Habit again :)- no coupon this time, but always delicious.  Then over to the movie theater to see Soul on Fire.  Pretty good movie about John O'Leary who burned 100% of his body playing with fire and almost burned his house down.  It was interesting.  Kinda low budget, but still really good.  The annoying part was the dumb lady sitting next to us- can't really call her a lady, she was just RUDE- who couldn't handle us talking during the commercials!  Not even the previews, but the COMMERSIALS!!!  And just had to tell us, "We can hear you!"  DUH!!  We don't care.  I tried extra hard to be annoying for a few minutes and then got bored.  Still annoys me thinking about it though.  10-10-25

LAST SOCCER GAMES OF THE SEASON
We had a great soccer season!  Our games that were supposed to be during conference were rained out so we had them this week, which was a total tender mercy for sure.  Everyone played really well.  Noah and Erika's' game was at 8:00 am and they killed the other team.  There was a weird little instance with Quinton crashing into a kid, and the other coach getting all bent out of shape and then the rest of the game that coach owned the ref, which sucked, but it was fine.  We've loved having Noah and Erika on the same team!  Molly had slaved over her team treats- some cute little mini loaf cakes with green frosting to look like grass and some candy soccer balls on top- she did such a great job and they looked so cute!  She determined that since they were so cute there was no need to bring a drink with it. She also played really well, tried for several goals, they just had a really good goalie.  But she looked great out there! 10-11-25

BRAD'S MISSION REUNION
This was good :).  He had a great time.  I was worried he would have to deal with a bunch about him and Kayden breaking up, but he said it wasn't too bad.  So that was nice.  He had rode the train down and didn't love that and then luckily got a ride up from Charity and Hunter on their way here.  Kinda funny.  First reunion in the books.  10-11-2025

GIFTS
I'm not sure where to start with this post.  I guess I'll go back a little, give some context.  For the past week, probably because I didn't do my estrogen cream (so gross, I wish I could get a different form of estrogen), I have been dealing with some pretty heavy symptoms.  Perimenopause has gotten the best of me this week and I'm ashamed to admit I gave in.  I am trying, but didn't try hard enough.  So Saturday was kind of the peak of my frustration and I was really losing the battle most of the day.  It was really rough.  I had all but talked myself into skipping church today.  It was funny because I kept having the thoughts that I deserved a break and that maybe the rest from life would help me out and then I remembered what I had thought when Barbara Farnes said that when she was depressed she had times where she felt prompted or felt like it was okay to miss church or not go to the temple and immediately I had the thought that NO!  That is satan trying to keep you down.  Heavenly Father would never prompt us to NOT go to church or the temple.  So I was recognizing that I shouldn't give in to those ideas.  I hadn't settled on the decision, but it was totally an option in my head this morning when I woke up.  I really did not want to get out of bed.  Took me a good hour to do so.  But.  I did.  I got up and showered.  Which seems to be really helpful for me- showering- it really seems to pull me out of my slumps.  After the shower I was on my way- took some extra thought to sound happy waking people up and I tried to muster up some energy for everyone all morning, which was uncomfortable, but I was glad I could.  I was smiling.  It was fun to talk with Noah about how quickly the house gets messy and his fun night and Brad's mission reunion.  I was feeling like a normal person all morning.  Everything went pretty smoothly and we got to church on time without too much trouble.  It was fast and testimony meeting and it was great.  I really loved a lot of the testimonies.  I was grateful Diane had mentioned the times when we feel like we're "doing all the things" and yet not feeling the peace or the growth, just like what Erika had said this week.  Felt inspired.  There were a few other things that stood out- testimonies about loved ones who have passed on being answers to prayers.  It was a good one.  Then, during the closing song, we got to sing the song "I Need Thee Every Hour"- one of my favorite hymns.  One I needed to sing at that moment.  It was so great.  It then hit me that Heavenly Father had helped me a TON this morning.  That he had made my morning go more smoothly and had been carrying me to church so that I would not miss.  I was so glad I made the decision to go and I was so glad that I didn't have to do it on my own.  Then a flood of the blessings he had given me and things he had blessed me with came to my mind.  I realized Molly had not put up a fight at all.  First Sunday in a very long time that she did not cry and throw a tantrum about going to church.  Sadie and Molly both let me do their hair without too much trouble.  We were on time.  The kitchen (and most of the house for that matter) were mostly clean- thanks to Noah the night before.  We sang songs I liked.  The girls were entertained during Sacrament and getting along.  It just felt good.  Doesn't always feel like that.  What a blessing.  If it had been hard at all this morning, I don't know if I would have had the stamina.  I am so grateful.  It reminded me that I don't have to go through menopause on my own.  Then I got a message from Kelly asking me how I'm doing and hoping we can talk about things together.  I got a voice mail from Claire, just checking in on me and my "peace".  So inspired.  I got a text from Becky asking if I wanted to do lunch sometime soon.  When I think about it, it feels like Heavenly Father is in "relentless pursuit" of me at the moment.  Kinda cool.  Gives me so much hope.   I don't have to dwell on the symptoms and the hard things that are happening in my body, I can focus on the ways that Heavenly Father and his helpers here on earth are there for me and lifting a burden.  It will take some practice and I might still mess up, but I don't want to let perimenopause get me.  I want to beat it.  I was grateful for the Relief Society lesson also.  Talking about gifts from God.  I was reminded of my Priesthood Blessing from Brad Wilcox in the hospital.  What a blessing that was.  It has carried me so many times.  Good reminder that maybe I need a blessing to help with all of this as well.  But the bottom line, and like I said to my mom, "Perimenopause might kill me, but it's not going to be today" :).  10-12-25

LUNCH WITH STEPHANIE
I cannot express how nice this new friendship has been.  Not just for the diabetes, but for a lot of other things.  Stephanie is so easy to talk to and we have so much fun together.  She chose Robintinos this time.  It was nice!  I actually really liked the food I got.  It was yummy.  We stopped at her parents on the way home so she could use their bathroom and it was so fun!!  They are still just so entertaining to talk to.  I remembered that feeling too well.  So great though.  I am just so glad to have Stephanie in my .life.  10-13-25

FHE and FAMILY TALENT SHOW
We had a quick FHE lesson with Jack reading Luke's email that was really great this week.  Then we played four corners and went to Dairy Queen to kill time til Charity and Hunter could get here.  It was time for the Talent show.  I was not aware this was in the making, but Kelly and the kids had planned it for family night this week.  It ended up being SO MUCH FUN!  Nate did one of his magic tricks.  I played the piano.  Charity and Hunter sang a really pretty song.  Kelly recited the first part of Tangled and had Devan and Erika act it out.  Devan did a cool trick with the soccer ball.  I was so relieved he didn't break anything :).  Noah did a card trick.  Erika counted acted out Kelly's thing.  Jack showed us some of his art.  Molly did a cool trick out on the front lawn with her soccer ball and Sadie did a few little somersault things climbing up Noah's front :).  Super cute!  It was a lot of fun, perfect excuse for Kelly, Devan, Charity and Hunter to come over- good job Kelly.   10-13-25

RELIEF SOCIETY NIGHT
I needed to make some soup for this, so I knew I was going and didn't do the usual, talking myself out if it business.  But I was really struggling to get into it for most of the night.  I was mostly just tired I think.  Richelle was kind enough to sit with me and I love her.  Then Tammy and Margie and Karen Richardson joined us at our table which was fun.  But I really didn't move from my spot at the table.  There were some cute crafts and ideas around the room but I didn't make it to anything.  Much to Rebekah's dismay.  But it was a good time.  I need to remember to take my hard drive to Star West Computers like Richelle suggested once we have money.  10-14-25

FALL BREAK
We had a really great fall break despite not going anywhere big like we had originally planned.  With the government shut down, we're trying to be smart.  But we really made the most of it and I think it was a nice, relaxing and also fun time.  We had a couple big things planned for each day to look forward to.  Nobody really gave me any others, so we just did what I thought of for the most part.  Wednesday night we stayed up really late, knowing we didn't have to get up early!  That was awesome.  We all slept in pretty good Thursday, too.  By about lunch time the little girls were getting a little restless, so they thought of going to the mall for the playground and some pretzel bites, so we squeezed that in before going to Jack's doctor appointment.  After that we came home and got ready for our BUDDY DATES!!  This was probably the highlight.  And I thought it went really well.  We grouped everyone in couples and everyone went on a date.  Noah had to work Friday which was when we were going to do buddy dates, so we switched it with Alphabet dinner and that made it so that the older girls couldn't come.  Super bummer, but we decided we'd rather have them with everyone than not.  So we had Nate and I together, we went to Applebee's after dropping off Erika and Molly at the Layton Hills Mall.  Brad and Jack were together.  They went to Boondocks and spent a small fortune on the arcade games there.  Brad has the funniest video of Jack coming out of Boondocks carrying his FOUR big bouncy balls one between his legs, one under each arm and one between those two.  It's hilarious.  They seemed to have a great time!  Noah and Sadie were together.  It sounded like their date had the potential to be a lot of fun, but Sadie was in one of her moods.  They went to Carls Jr., the Pet store and then to the Creamery!  Noah went above and beyond, not sure what Sadie's deal was.  Erika and Molly were together and went to Melty at the mall for dinner and then wanted to go to Bath and Body Works and Claires, but both were already closed!  So crazy!  So we picked them up at drove them over to Station Park for the rest of their date.  Kinda fun.  We should really do this more often I think.  It was a lot of fun. 
Friday we had planned to do baptisms.  The older kids and Nate all took off and Sadie, Molly and I went to baseball park :).  It was a nice time.  The weather has been so perfect!  We stopped at Wendy's for lunch even though Nate had picked us up food from Five Guys on his way home- oops.  It was a fun time though.  We went and played chair soccer at the church for the afternoon and then veged at home for a while before having our Alphabet dinner.  It was pretty late by the time we went to Walmart for meal stuff.  We split everyone up into couples for four parts of the meal.  Nate, Kelly and Devan were a group, they had the main dish and the letter J.  Brad and I were a team, we had side and E as our letter.  Erika and Sadie were on Appetizer and had R.  Jack and Molly had dessert with the letter P.  We did all the shopping- waited for each other for an obscene amount of time before realizing we were waiting for each other.  Then came home and prepared food.  Appetizer: Ramen with a different way of seasoning.  Main dish: Jambalaya with Jasmine rice and Jalapeno Sausage (too bad this took Nate out for the rest of the night.  He is still needing to be careful what he eats).  Side: Everything on everything (everything bagel seasoning on lots of different veggies that almost all started with the letter B.  It was delicious!  We found a way that Jack will eat broccoli!  Dessert: Parfaits!  Such a good time.  I really liked this and wish we were doing these things more often.  Jazz game for the rest of the evening. 
10-16-25

CLC MEETING
This was the coolest meeting!  I hope I never forget the things I learned there.  Elder Bednar was presiding.  Elder Amos and Elder Hymas from the 70 and President Taylor of our area were all there.  It was more of a giant group discussion than talks, but it was SO GOOD!!  I loved it!  I loved what Elder Bednar said about teaching kids all three parts of baptism- baptism, confirmation and sacrament.  Emphasis on the confirmation.  He talked about how we have become a performative church and that we need to do more through the spirit and less planned out.  He said it's not going to look perfect and can be messy, but that's okay!  I really liked that.  He talked about letting the youth do things- they are capable!!  Teach them the doctrine so they can be trusted to teach and lead.  He talked a lot about ministering and the purpose of the Gospel being to bring souls to Christ.  Name/Ordinance.  I really want to focus on this and focus on individuals rather than whole groups.  It was such a good meeting.  I am going to try to get our family to read the Book of Mormon every night after study time.  Then I am also going to try to revamp our family night lessons so that they are more purposeful.  We do  need to work on studying though.  It was so good!! Afterwards, while waiting in Martha's car in the parking lot, we talked about how we can help the wards who will be all shaken up in the plans they have for the stake soon.  I'm relieved our ward isn't having any changes, but also a little bummed. 10-18-25

DATE WITH KELLY
After my meeting I hurried and changed and headed down to get Kelly.  We went to the Downtown market.  It was a half hour from closing so not the most opportune time to go, but we walked all the way around and got to see most of the stuff, I think.  EVERYTHING was SO overpriced!!  That was nuts.  I really couldn't believe how much it was.  But we had fun browsing and Kelly bought me some roasted nuts.  Then we ran across the street to Bruge's Waffles for some yummy waffles with strawberries and cream and nutella on the side.  SO DELICIOUS!!!  We had such a great time talking!  It's nice to have a buddy with the perimenopause/menopause stuff to talk about.  It's unreal that she did it all before me.  How dare she beat me to it really.  But we had a great time.  I'm very grateful for Kelly!!  She is a blessing in my life.  10-18-25

CARS THEMED DINNER
When I got home from my date with Kelly we started on our Cars dinner.  Nobody really wanted to help, so I did it myself :).  It was pretty fun though.  We had Mac Grilled cheeses (I hated the thought of throwing away crusts and so much of the sandwiches so I just pressed the truck shape into them.  They looked dumb, but it was fine) dipped in Tow Mater Soup (I made tomato soup from scratch for the first time ever- SO DELICIOUS!!) With Bugles (Sally's Cozy Cones), Chick Hicks Salad (just a salad that was green and nobody likes it so it goes with Chick Hicks).  Then Luigi's tires and some Pistachio Ice cream for dessert :).  Very fun!!  I think the kids liked it.  I wish Molly hadn't gotten so worked up about the labels.  She and Erika did a fantastic job on those and they looked amazing, but Molly was being too hard on herself for some reason.  It was fun though!  We watched Cars 2 after!!  We had everyone but Noah and the girls for dinner and then just a few of us for the movie.  But so fun!!  Again, we need to do this stuff more often!  It's just easy fun!  10-18-25

GRANDMA AND SIMON
We had a pretty easy going Sunday this week.  Nothing after church except choir, so we relaxed!  I made Brad and Molly dry dishes while I washed so that we could make dinner.  I was glad I had plans for dinner when Grandma and Simon showed up!  They had some cute little pumpkin buckets for the kdis filled with candy and fun toys, so we invited them to stay for Pasta Alfredo.  It was actually a complete dinner with roasted veggies and garlic bread and corn on the cob, so that was nice :).  It was fun to talk with them a little.  My mom wanted me to play my songs on the piano for her.  It's been a while!!  Good times though.  10-19-25

FAMILY PUMPKIN CARVING
This was a major highlight of the season.  The Hollists and the Brenchleys both made it!  We all went to Bowman's together to pick out our pumpkins, talked with Cathie and freshly returned Molly (Tony was there too) Nybos, thenbarreled our way through the store for a mini one for Devan and a few other random things.  We can't go to Bowman's without Molly asking for one of the small, glass bottle, drinks, in the fridges by the registers- so she did that and I said no.  We paid for our stuff and headed out!  I had gotten a really yummy broccoli cheese soup all ready to go and finished that up while everyone started on their pumpkins.  I felt so dumb when I remembered that Hunter doesn't like broccoli!!  Ugh.  We ate it anyway.  I think Hunter found some leftovers.  Everyone had fun carving.  We may need a bigger space for this activity in the future.  It was a little crowded.  Gone are the sheet on the kitchen floor days.  Even with the table moved over.  It's fine.  But everyone carved their pumpkins happily- I think Kelly had some hangups, Hunter's stem busted off, Sadie needed some help, Jack tried a few different designs before settling on one, Molly struggled to pick her idea, Nate didn't use real twine this year, and I didn't do my usual!  It was so much fun though.  I hope we can keep this tradition alive.  Maybe next year we do it at the church and finish it off with some chair soccer or basketball?  hmmm.  10-20-25

FAMILY HALLOWEEN PARTY
We were all looking forward to this and I think it was a success.  We had the Hollists and Brenchleys both again!  Twice in one week- pretty awesome! STEVE also came!Everyone brought a Halloween treat.   We played some Eyeball toss to get started- Steve was going all out trying to bribe people with his loads of money.  So funny.  Nobody made it in the cauldron- we shouldn't have played that game without Luke, it's just not the same.  We ate Tater-Tot extravaganza (tater tots covered in ham and bacon and cheese- pretty good- looked amazing! but mostly just because it was cheap and what we had).  I can't even remember what else.  Kelly made some awesome salmon dip at Nate's request, that was yummy.  After lunch (this was in the middle of the day so that Nate didn't have to miss out), Steve took off and then we played the "candybar" game.  We had a few extra cool things in there, cheez-its, takis, big stuff, ya know.  That was fun.  I only put $22 spread throughout, we're on a tight budget right now with the shut down so no going overboard.  This went pretty well.  It's always funny how some people end up with a lot and some with very little.  Nobody seemed to share, but then everyone just left there stuff out for everyone to eat.  Interesting.  After that we played the donut eating game.  This was pretty fun.  Always is.  We got gluten free ones for Jack and Erika.  It seemed like new people won this year.  I think Charity won her group.  Maybe Noah won his?  I shouldn't even try to guess.  Sorry, I don't remember, it's been two weeks.  But we had a good time.  We didn't want the party to end, but it did.  It's always fun to have everyone over.  We really need to come up with more of these kinds of things to get everyone together.  Good times.  We did forget the slimy pumpkin grab and Noah had requested Twister but I totally spaced it- sorry, Noah!!  Next year!!  We've got to shake it up a little I think.  We'll see if we can.  10-24-25

JACK CCR
We went to Jack's CCR appointment.  This was nice because I have not met the new counselor.  She was really nice.  Riley Plott.  She was helpful and it was good to get a refresher on some of the things we talked about.  10-28-25

DRIPS, PLASTIC AND ZIPPERS
We found a leak from the upstairs bathroom down to the family room back on the 23rd.  It was pretty bad, caused a really big bubble, just above the book case and back door area.  Nate woke up to an inch of water that morning.  It was pretty crazy.  We set a bowl down and waited for the insurance company to do their thing.  Well, Thursday morning, right on time, some guys came to look at it.  After a short little talk and me signing some documents, they went right to work, demolishing the area.  They tore out the wall between the door and the kitchen, the ceiling there, some of the kitchen wall up to the bathroom, leaving a wide but short hole that we could look through and see the bathroom.  Kinda funny.  They found mold on the family room floor area.  Then they went up to the bathroom and tore up all the tile, the toilet, made some more holes.  It was kinda nuts.  So much noise and then by the end, which really cut into Nate's Friday meal time, our house was sectioned off with plastic walls with long zippers in them and about 20 fans running all at the same time!!  So noisy!!  We were all pretty annoyed with the overstimulation I think, but we did pretty good!  I was proud of us.  The really strong, gross mold smell eventually went away too, which was nice.  I think that answers our question whether we have mold or not.  I'm certain there is mold in other places as well.  But unexposed is better I think.  So anyway- fun surprise.  We had the fans and zippers til Monday!  10-30-25

PRESIDENCY MEETING- CAFE SABOR
This was a really nice change from our usual.  We needed to talk about the Stake split and all the YW presidencies.  It was good to get together as well and chat a little.  I liked it.  I cannot believe tacos are only $6!!  10-30-25

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!  
Awesome Halloween this year!!  It never really felt quite like it was Halloween for some reason.  Molly and I both didn't feel like it ever was.  But it was still wonderful.  The girls were excited to get in their costumes.  Molly was herself riding a giraffe- one of those blow-up costumes that kids can't resist.  She loved it.  She had picked out a princess one a week earlier and loved it, but once she had it on she kind of realized that she wasn't as comfortable in it.  In her words, "I can't wear this to school, everyone will judge me!"  So we got the giraffe one.  But she seemed to really like it, brought extra batteries to keep it running all day :).  Sadie was a bat!  She had heard that Charlotte was going to be a bat so she wanted to do the same thing.  She LOVED her costume as well, especially after we cut off the five or six inches off the bottom of the legs.  She looked adorable.  We got the girls to school and then Nate, Brad and I headed over for the parade.  Every year we manage to stand by the Stolpps!  Every year.  It's so funny.  So we stood and talked.  They are really fun to talk to.  Jessica somehow remembers all of our kids' names.  I don't know how.  The parade was great!  Sadie was flapping her wings as she walked by and Molly tried to not see us :).  Just kidding.  She looked amazing though!  It was fun to see all the wardies and their costumes.  Finn was hilarious- Weird Al as Michael Jackson- HA!  We scooted up to the concrete and watched the sixth graders do their Thriller dance- so funny with the abducted kid/alien costume on the front row- I was dying laughing.  It was a fun little morning.  We ran to Bowman's to get the donuts for Molly's class party and came home to veg.  We're so good at relaxing on the couch these days, watching Brad work!  At noon we went over to the school for Molly's party!  This ended up being a lot of fun.  We didn't do the eyeball toss- kinda crazy- but Molly had requested the donut eating contest game :).  With the hanging donuts.  So we brought our donuts, mop pole and a sheet along with our big cauldron bowl full of prizes (cool pens I found at Bowmans along with random candy from our treat cupboard and fruit snacks- oddly enough someone chose a fruit snack over all those other things.  Fruit snacks do not even compare).  The kids seemed to like this game.  A lot of them never came close to eating the whole donut which was funny.  Molly had played it twice and done really well at our family party, so I knew it wasn't too big an ask for these 4th graders.  Some of them weren't really into it.  They didn't like that I only let the kids who won get a prize.  This game was so new to us that we didn't know how much time it would take, so we had Ivy's mom do her game with ours in the same station so after they ate their donut they went on to toss rings onto rootbeer bottles.  Kinda fun.  I think if we had just had six stations instead of five, a little less time at each, this would have filled the time just fine.  We could have done them in smaller groups and they could have had more chance of winning.  Just making notes for next time.  It was a lot of fun.  The class seemed really well-behaved, that was nice.  We came home and spent some time trying to relax but with all the fans and stuff, it wasn't super relaxing so we took a drive up to Grandpa's house and visited him until it was time for trick-or-treating.  We ate nuts and talked.  It was a good time.  Too bad he was evading the police at the moment and seemed somewhat distracted.  But his impression of the cops banging on his door was unforgettable.  Hopefully some people forget about it soon.  We came home and got some food in our tummies and vey slowly got ready to trick-or-treat!  Charity and Hunter were so fun to come with us.  Along with Erika and Jack for about 10 minutes before running off with Will.  But I thought it was fun for Molly and Sadie to have such a crowd to cheer them on :).  We didn't go crazy and only did part of the ward.  We made it over to Park Lane with all the real food- that was fun.  But overall, it was just a pretty chill night.  Not cold, mind you, it was really nice weather!  I think I stayed warm enough in a hoodie!  So that was also nice.  The ice cream was still a little too cold to eat then, but it always is.  We came home, Jack got home around the same time and we all just sat in the living room (the only room we could sit in) and looked at the kids' candy and talked.  It's sure not ideal just having the one living space to congregate in.  Kelly and Devan's plans changed a few times that night so they were not able to make it, we missed them, but it was all good considering there was nowhere for them to sit.  Everyone wanted to watch a movie.  I can't remember what we watched.  Good times though.  On to November.  10-31-25

September 2025

 LABOR DAY/MOLLY'S 10TH BIRTHDAY

So Labor day was an interesting one this year!  Good!  But very interesting!  We all went down to Grandma Ruthie's for Jen's Labor Day party.  It was a FULL HOUSE for sure!!  It was packed!  It was kind of crazy of Brad, but he brought his cute Kayden to this party.  They came a little late and we had to leave a little early, because Jack was almost out of insulin, so it wasn't too bad, but we were playing a game that would have been better with fewer people, so it was okay that we weren't there the whole time :).  But meeting Kayden was the highlight for me :).  She's adorable!  So after that, the plan was to go to Farmington Pool to swim.  I had decided to drop everyone off at the pool and run home to get Jack's insulin and go back and give him some.  He hadn't eaten much at the party, so he was actually doing pretty okay blood sugar wise.  I thought if he got in the pool and was swimming a bunch he wouldn't even need it really.  But of course, my heart sank, when I looked in the fridge and found there was NO INSULIN!!  Not a drop.  We were completely out of insulin and when I looked at the website I learned that his new supply would not be here for a few more days!!  I was in a bit of a panic if I'm being honest.  I started texting everyone I know to see if they would let us borrow some, apparently nobody uses the same kind.  Mandy Sanchez wasn't even answering.  The pharmacies were all closed as well as the doctors' offices.  This was SO BAD!!  I was stressing and wasn't really sure how to fix this problem.  I was just kind of sitting at the pool losing my mind all over my mom who was fun enough to join us.  After a little while I got a call back from the on call doctor.  They were able to point me to the Primary Children's pharmacy in Salt Lake, but then after a few more calls with them, we all realized that we would not be able to get it covered by insurance because they were covering the batch that was on it's way (or not quite on it's way here as I learned after a bunch more calls).  It was a HUGE mess if I'm being honest.  But after checking with Nate, I settled on taking Jack down to Primary Children's and just buying the insulin out of pocket.  So that's what we did.  Jack was feeling really crappy by now and sad that he had to leave the pool even though he had hardly gotten to swim because his foot was hurting him for some reason.  So he was grumpy also.  We made the long trek there with phones dying and his pump dying- of all the luck! But eventually got to the front of the line, paid the whopping $200 for the insulin and being on our way.  It was a MIRACLE a huge one that my phone did not die while we were in line.  It was chugging at the end there!  SO we got in the car, had to scramble to find a store to buy a new charger to charge his phone, my phone and his pump most importantly.  That was a challenge for some reason.  But we did it!!  Near the end there we had decided he just needed to get some insulin so we stopped and used the needle and fresh new pen and then continued home.  It was seriously nuts!!  All along I was stressing about Molly's family party and wondering how I was going to get everything all ready to go.  It was stressful.  We did make it home and we were able to get things all situated for Molly's family party.  Grandpa Hatch, Grandma and Simon, Charity and Hunter, Brad still had Kayden with him.  We had just enough to party really :).  Molly had wanted to play Viking Chess again, and that was a big hit.  I think we had mini loaf cakes that Molly and I had made to taste like snickers :).  Chocolate cake with caramel inside along with some caramel frosting and snickers on top.  They were pretty rich.  But so fun, so good!  I loved spoiling Molly and being able to celebrate her.  She is such a part of our family.  We couldn't be us without her.  9-1-25

MULTISTAKE YOUTH FESTIVAL (SHOULD BE CALLED A CONCERT, JUST SAYIN)
I was so satisfied with how this went!  Martha did an amazing job planning it!  haha!!  I volunteered to help set up and was put on decorations, namely a balloon arch and columns in the entry lobby.  Took a few minutes and then I was just there at the Regional center- TURTLE BUILDING- for a good coupld hours.  I decided to just sit and relax!  The rest of our stake leaders started coming around 5:00.  We got a lot of things set up and directed all the other stakes' leaders.  We got the wristbands all ready to pass out.  Then the youth started coming!  So many youth!  We filled up the entire bottom section of seats with youth, made all the adults move and filled up about half of the upper section.  Pretty awesome.  This turned out to be so much fun!  The performers were so fun.  The Bonner family boys were awesome.  Our stake girls were OBSESSED with Pierce Morris again :).  Erika says that was the highlight for her- not watching Pierce, but watching Grace Layton enjoy Pierce- HA!  I stood with Christa Skousen and watched it from the side, it was so cool.  I loved seeing all the wristbands lighting up and the balls.  I loved it really!!  The Spirit was there, it was just awesome!  Even the clean up went pretty smoothly and didn't feel overwhelming at all.  We got out of there pretty quickly.  I was grateful for Erika and Noah's help and company while we took down the balloons.  Pres. Perry and Christa were there as well.  Many hands made light work.  I am actually looking forward to this for next year!!  9-3-25

LUNCH WITH BROOKE
We finally made it to lunch!  We went to Zupas and had such a good time!  I loved the yummy Dubai Chocolate covered strawberries!!  So amazing!!  She should never have shared those with me!  I miss seeing Brooke more often.  9-4-25

RENTALS
We started renting out the wedding stuff.  Seems to be going pretty well!  I am actually surprised at how much I can bring in with that.  Kinda cool.  Basically makes up for me leaving the Lisa's.  9-6-25

SOCCER
So far soccer has been a blast this season!  Erika and Noah are on the same team and that has been really fun.  Molly is back on a Kaysville rec team and that has been a huge relief.  I don't even think I mentioned the I-9 league we put her on last season... so sad.  It set her back a little, but I think she's caught up already.  9-6-25

CHARITY AND HUNTER IDAHO OPEN HOUSE
We were lucky enough to be able to go up to Preston for the open house at the Hollist home.  Nate even got work off.  Grandpa Hatch showed up shortly after us, that was fun.  They had the best food and it was really fun to meet all the family members and friends there.  Brad and Kayden especially had a good time mingling with all the hispanics and people from Peru and people who served in Peru on missions.  I liked meeting Linda's uncles Ken and David, Molly liked seeing Leila again.  It was really nice to have my dad there as my security blanket.  And I was so surprised to see the Christensens there :).  Fun stuff though.  9-6-25

LUNCH WITH JULIE CLEMENS
Julie texted me the night before telling me she was going to be in Kaysville, so we were able to meet up at Orlando's for some lunch!  This was a highlight.  I love Julie.  What would I do without her in my life.  I love being able to start where we left off and it never feels like we've been apart.  She's such a good friend, so understanding and so easy to talk to.  It's crazy how much our kids are all growing and changing right now.  Big stuff!!  She's got three in three different colleges!  9-8-25

LUNCH WITH ANNIE COLE
Annie and I got to meet up at Chipotle again- not sure why but I ended up at the South Jordan one instead of the West Jordan one out by her house.  So it took me a minute to get there.  But it was so nice to hang out.  We think the same on so many things- it's actually so refreshing to talk to her.  She is such a good friend.  9-9-25

CHARLIE KIRK
On Wednesday I got a text from Brad telling me that Kayden's family had been at UVU to watch Charlie Kirk and saw him get shot!  So crazy!!  Brooke and I had talked about going there, Charity had talked about going there.  None of us went, but man, such a weird world.  They were pretty unsure of who did it for a while and since then, there has been a lot of talk of conspiracies and stuff.  It all seems very fishy to me.  But mostly just so sad.  He has a wife and two little kids.  He was so amazing and had such a good grasp of reality and a good perspective on life.  He was religious and very conservative so I agreed with almost every thing I've heard him say.  He had so much ahead.  It's so sad that he was killed for speaking out and trying to listen.  Kind of scary really.  I don't want to let it silence me.  9-10-25

TEMPLE WITH BRADLEY
I have been wanting to have a regular temple day and I need to really make it happen, but this week Brad motivated me to get an appointment.  It was so nice to go with him.  I love the temple.  9-11-25

MINISTERING INTERVIEWS
Rebekah Flindt and I were able to meet with Debra Smith for our interview this time.  It was fun!  I liked visiting.  I really want to find a way to make Debra a Lego nativity :).  9-11-25

PRESIDENTS DINNER
This went really well again.  I enjoyed hearing from all the Presidents.  There was less talk about teaching Sunday lessons, which is unfortunate because I don't think many of them are.  But it was a productive meeting.  Zupas is always good too :).  And I tried Poppi- prebiotic soda.  Very cool.  9-11-25

BASKETBALL FOR ERIKA
We've started up with a fall season of basketball for Erika- kind of here and there, not really all in, but we went up to Brighton High for a couple games and it was really fun to watch!  Erika did amazing!  It's going to be a fun basketball season come Winter!  9-13-25

SUNDAY
This Sunday was a big day for me.  I had to go to Stake Council at 6:30 in the morning, our ward at 9:00, choir at 11:15, then I took a small break before heading out to our Stake Youth Council at 2:00 and then Prep for life at 3:00.  All of which I was kind of in charge of.  Not completely but I had Martha's keys so...  It all went pretty well though!  I especially loved the Prep For Life YSA panel.  Brad was on it, so that was awesome.  He did a great job.  I loved hearing all of his answers.  He sure loves the Gospel and Jesus Christ.  What a blessing he is in my life.  We got home and rushed off to the family meeting!  Kinda nuts!  9-14-25

NOAH'S CCR
This was a little bit annoying because I didn't feel like his counselor was helping us with anything.  We had to drag information out of her rather than having her anxious to give it to us.  Noah has amazing grades, a desire to go to college, and wants some direction as to where and how, but she just was not very informative.  Kind of annoying.  But we got some info- found out they screwed up on his 9th grade grades, and hopefully he will be able to take the ACT again soon and can move on to applying for schools!  He's so cool!  He also got some forms to apply for internships and work release.  9-15-25

ZERO FATALITIES
I think this was like my 4th or 5th time seeing this- I know I made Nate go once or twice.  I don't think we did it during COVID, but anyway- we had to go to Viewmont this time, the one at Davis was during something else.  But it ended up being pretty much the same as it has always been.  Which I actually don't mind.  I kind of like it.  Erika was paying very close attention and that was good.  Pretty exciting that she could get her license in a couple of months!!  She needs more hours though!  9-16-25

ERIKA'S FIRST DATE- HOMECOMING DAY DATE TO TOP GOLF
She was not feeling great most of the day and slept quite a bit,but then was able to shake it off for the date that night.  She ended up having SO MUCH FUN!  I was so glad!  Easton was a great first date!  9-17-25

LUNCH WITH PAPPY
It's been a few months since we did our lunch, so this was nice and refreshing.  I love hanging out with my dad.  We visited for a while and then Brad showed up which was so much fun!  We loved that.  He always makes everyone smile.  I think we all had a good time.  Grandpa paid for it and I still don't know why it was so much!  9-18-25

COLUMBIA FUN RUN!
I don't the excitement level for this is near what it used to be with the older kids- these ones just don't love running as much as they did, but I will say Molly and Sadie were looking forward to it :).  Nate, Brad and I headed over to the school- Molly had wanted to someone to run with so I brought Brad :).  He ran with Sadie in the first group  and then again with Molly for the second.  So fun!  They all did so good!  Molly came in 5th place we think, for fourth grade girls.  Very cool!  Brad had a good time even.  Nate and I visited with all the friends and neighbors which is always fun.  Good stuff!  9-19-25

DATE NIGHT
Nate and I went to Applebee's and saw the movie Senior from Angel Studios.  Very fun movie!  We had a great time.  We are really needing our dates these days so I was happy we could this week!  9-19-25

BRAD SPEAKING AND MEETING KAYDEN'S MOM
Brad was asked to speak this week by two different stake leaders.  Janice Johnson for the Country Lane ward and then Cameron Jones? in the 11th ward!  I got to go to most of the first one with Nate and then we got to meet Kayden's mom afterwards which was so fun.  She said she thought I was Brad's sister :).  WINNER!!  She had to hurry and go to the airport, but she was so nice!  I am glad I got to meet her.  Then I went to choir and caught the end of his second talk.  Big day for Brad!  He has another one in NOvember with Travis at the Shadowbrook ward.  9-21-25

DINNER AT CHARITY AND HUNTER'S
We were invited down for dinner this Sunday, so we brought some Lasagna and all the energy we could squeeze into their place :).  We had taken a detour on our way there, to take some cake and card to Jen for her birthday and ran into Grandma getting ready to ride around.  It was way more out of the way than I had imagined for some reason.  It was a fun time!  Charity was so nice to attempt a diy Ranch dressing for Sadie even though she really didn't appreciate it.  We were able to spend a lot of good time there, played a few games, and talked a LOT.  It was nice.  We miss them!!  Nice time talk to NOah on the way there and Brad on the way back :).  Fun stuff.  9-21-25

MINISTERS
Greg and Brad are our new ministers.  Kinda funny.  But I wanted to document everyone's bucket list item from Greg's question- Let's see if I can remember them all.  Sadie was wandering around, I don't think we got hers.  Molly wants to have a horse.  Jack wants to be an engineer.  Erika wants to do something I can't remember at the moment.  Noah said going on a mission.  Brad said getting a calling.  I said Machu Picchu and now I am drawing a blank on Nate's too.  I need to reask them.  But so fun.  9-22-25

LUKE'S YEAR MARK!!!
He didn't really like thinking about it too much, but we are all very excited for Luke to have reached the one year mark!  A whole year!  At this point it feels like it's been more than a year, but I'm so proud of him and all that he has done.  He is really impressive and growing so much.  It was a lot of fun to hear him and Brad talking about how to help the missionaries in his zone.  Luke is such a good learner, asks questions, listens.  I think that is one of his gifts.  It's going to be cool to see what else he can accomplish on the Lord's errand!  He's so awesome!  Congrats, Luke!!  One more to go!  You got this.  9-23-25

HOMECOMING 2025- NOAH AND ERIKA
We had such a great Homecoming this year!  Erika got asked by Easton who was just a sweetie from day one.  He was so funny about how his ice cream was melty and things didn't quite go right with his ask.  But he was so fun about the ties, buying every shade of pink, and then worrying about driving.  He was funny.  Erika was so happy about going with him and was wanting to make things perfect.  She was so smart with her dress choice and picked a really modest pink one with cute decorative flowers sewn on- SO CUTE!!  She looked gorgeous in it.  She and I made the boutineere the morning of, that was a lot of fun.  Fretting over every little inch of it.  We made the perfect one!  It was so much fun.  She looked beautiful!  I was a little sad I was kind of busy setting up Noah's dinner I didn't really get to help her get ready, but I was SO relieved that Easton came to pick her up a little earlier than she had said.  I was able to be here when he came.  He was adorable.  Very sweet to everyone in the room, wanting to be introduced to everyone and just so friendly.  Cool kid.  Charity and Bradley both happened to pop in through the room so they met him.  Charity and I got pictures of them swapping flowers and then a couple more for good measure and then they were off!  He popped back in the house to ask what time to bring her home :).  Good one Easton!  She had a blast!  He was such a gentleman all night and was so polite and fun.  What a great first dance!!  She liked that they were both talkative with each other and the spike ball competition that they of course dominated.  Good times!  I'm glad she had such a good time!

Noah's date was a little different.  He took a girl named Sienna.  She was pretty shy from day 1.  I love that Noah lets me take pictures of his group.  We went to Lagoon Trail and it was PACKED!!   Who knew.  Kind of a bummer, but we got some good pictures.  I also loved that Noah chose to have his dinner here this dance!  That was so much fun!  We put out a couple tables on back, the lights, Nate mowed the lawn and made pulled pork.  We got out the bud vases and decorated the table and then everyone brought all the sides.  I made some cute Strawberry Lemonade cakes and it was great!  I think they had a good time!  I loved having them.  They were all very polite before they left!  9-27-25

GOODBYE PRESIDENT NELSON!
Such sad news to hear that President Nelson has gone on to his next life.  I'm sad to see him go, but I do feel some peace knowing where he is and that we still have all of his words and revelation.  It is obviously his time to go.  He lived to be 101.  He was amazing.  I've always loved him.  He gave so many wonderful promises that I hope to always remember and keep studying.  I also love President Oaks and I am excited to see what it is like with him as the Prophet.  I think he will be awesome too.  Here we go!  9-28-25

FHE
For Family Night tonight, we decided to take Grandma Ruthie out for dinner for her birthday tomorrow!  She chose Chubby's.  We had all of us there, minus the marrieds and Luke.  Grandma was so much fun- so cheerful!  We ate our yummy food and then sat around talking for quite a while.  It was so nice!  We surprised grandma with our tradition of telling all the things we love about the birthday person.  She seemed to like hearing what we had to say.  Lots of her showing her love and making us all feel welcome and loved.  Also her spirituality and how she is always teaching.  Lots of good stuff!  She was very sweet about it all and seemed a little uncomfortable with the compliments- so humble :)..  We stopped for Nielson's Frozen Custard on the way home as our Family Night treat.  9-29-25

NOAH THE HOT COMMODITY
Noah called me while we were getting Neilson's on our way home from dinner with Grandma Ruthie to tell me that he had been asked TWICE to the Winter dance!  A girl named Natalie was first- she's the one he wants to go with and was really excited about.  But then Clara Wolsey also asked him, about five minutes later.  It was kind of hard for him to say no!  What a bummer for him!  But then he found out that Chloe was also going to ask him but saw the poster on the porch before.  Kinda nuts!  I imagine he felt kind of cool being such a sought ought date :).  9-30-25

TEMPLE WITH BRAD AND JENEEL
Janeel and I finally made time to go to the temple together!  It was a wet, rainy day.  I wasn't sure if she was going to be able to make it so I invited Brad as well.  It was a great time!  We thought the drive to the temple was the funnest.  Janeel is going to help Brad make some shoes :).  I loved when Brad told me what thumbs up is like :).  9-30-25

August 2025

 DATE WITH JACK

Jack and I got to go see the new Jurassic Park movie.  It was SO GOOD!!  Jurassic World Rebirth.  We loved it!  There's just the one part that we were wishing they'd had T-Rex swoop in and save the day, but completely missed that awesome opportunity, but for the most part- very fun movie!!  And as always- it's fun to be with Jack.  He's so nice to me and talks so much- I love that!  8-2-25

DINNER WITH CLAIRE
My stomach wasn't feeling the Indian restaurant this time for some reason, so we chose Costa Vida instead and who knew getting to the Gateway Costa Vida would be such a hassle!  Sheesh!  It was super fun to be with Claire- we could still talk for days!  8-5-25

HURDLE CAMP
I loved that we signed Noah up for the hurdle camp this year!  I think he enjoyed it and learned some cool new drills to help him with his hurdles.  Hopefully it was worth the time and he feels more confidence from it.  8-7-25--8-9-25

CHARITY HOLLIST FAMILY SHOWER
This ended up being SO MUCH FUN!!  I really loved meeting Hunter's sisters!  So sweet, so genuine, and just so nice!  This was a really fun shower too because of how much attention they put on Charity and their dating and engagement.  She got to tell all the fun stuff.  They did a fun game about her which was really cool.  Lots of other fun games which Molly really enjoyed- not saying the words Bingo.  It was really fun to spend that time with them all and see Charity so happy as well.  8-9-25

CHARITY'S BRIDALS
This was a fun evening as well.  Noah and I were asked to come and assist and then also take some pictures after the photographer finished her few.  Noah has been way into photography lately and is getting really good at it.  So he was in charge of taking the pictures.  We went up to Provo Canyon to Big Springs Park and found the perfect spot.  It was fun to be with Charity and Hunter and Noah and so fun to be part of their Bridals.  They turned out amazing!!  8-9-25

BACKPACKING- NATE AND THE OLDER BOYS AND HUNTER- CIRQUE OF THE TOWERS
This was a really cool experience according to all of them.  It actually sounded so cool.  We're all super proud of them for being able to accomplish it!  Fun to hear about the bonding.  8-11-25--8-14-25

WHILE THE BOYS WERE GONE
Sketch- freakiest movie ever.  It felt like another episode of Coraline- trying to do something fun and it ending up being scary.
Swimming!!
Got my hair cut and colored- thank you Marianne!
Lots of dentist appointments
Mango Sticky Rice with Christie- this was when Nate called and told me they were almost home!
Back To School Night at Columbia- these are a lot more chill than they used to be- fun to meet Molly's teacher and great to see Ms. Smith again- we love her.  8-11-25--8-14-25

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!
This was another great first day of school!  I think most things went well.  Nothing is really standing out.  We've got five in school again this year.  Noah is a Senior- so crazy.  He is looking forward to a good year- crazy math and some sports med type classes.  Erika is a Sophomore- first year at Davis!  She is so nervous!!  She is going to love it though.  Jack is in 8th grade, excited to no longer be a sevie.  Molly is in 4th grade and not showing her excitement as much, but you can tell she is a little.  Sadie couldn't be more excited to go back to school and have Ms. Smith and be in 1st grade!!  Not too much different from last year, but it's going to be a good year!  We've got high hopes!  They let us take the kids into their classrooms this year which started to be kinda crazy when Sadie got nervous.  Luckily she was okay with me leaving to drop off Molly and then was able to say goodbye later.  They all had a great first day!  8-18-25

KELLY IS HERE!!
We grabbed some lunch for our first lunch day and then grabbed some more for Kelly and picked her up from the airport.  This was so exciting!  We knew it was going to be short, but happy to have whatever time we could with Kelly.  The rest of the time was work work work!!  She was so nice to come and help so much!  8-20-25

FRUIT SKEWERS and DIY BACKDROP
We got the arch for the backdrop like Tuesday and I had started on it with Sarah's company and got a lot of it done, but then Wednesday we were able to go buy some more ribbon and fabric to add to it, which really helped!  It turned out so pretty!  We had a good turn out for help with the skewers.  I cut up all the fruit and Charity, Hunter, Kelly, a few friends, Sierra, Matt, Bradley, I think Sadie and Molly too- all made the skewers.  We didn't use all the fruit, but we did use all their effort- HA!  I was wanting more obviously- HAHAHA!!!  It was a nice time with everyone though.  8-20-25

CHARITY AND HUNTER'S BIG DAY!!  
Their wedding day went off without a hitch!  It was such a beautiful day and went so smoothly.  I really don't think we could have asked for better.  
Kelly, Erika and I hurried down to Charity's apartment to be there to help her get ready.  Our drive there was pretty stressful- there were several accidents on the freeway that morning and so much traffic.  We believe it was a miracle that we got to Charity's in time to do everyone's hair (we'd all left curling our hair for her house for some reason) and get up to the temple by 10:40 (just 10 minutes late, miraculously!)  Charity rode with Hunter.  I got to meet Hunter's uncle Tyler there and we were the escorts that followed them around the temple all morning.  Such a beautiful temple!  They picked the Saratoga Temple because Hunter did some work there and because Charity liked the colors inside.  It's a special temple to them too.  I loved the time I got with Charity.  I will always cherish those minutes leading up to her sealing.  She was still my little girl :).  She was so happy and had such a glow about her.  It was fun to help her.  The sealing was amazing!  It was Hunter's grandpa who performed it.  He spoke a LOT about the covenants that they were making- I think there were five for Hunter and three for Charity?  Darn now I forgot.  But it was so beautiful  I loved that they let me sit by Nate again.  Holding hands and living in that moment together.  It really is neat to witness your kid making those covenants and starting on that journey.  I'm so excited for them and their future.  They will do big things.  We loved all the hugs and tears and then I loved helping Charity get into her dress!  They were so adorable when they came out- just basking in that moment!  Charity was SO HAPPY, it was fun. Picture time was SO HOT, but not too long, so that was good.  I really love how the temple pictures turned out despite how unorganized our photographer was.  She did a great job on the pictures!  Grandpa and Steve graced us with their presence, which is so fun.  I'm really glad they will come for that part.  We all made our way over to the church that was in the same parking lot as the temple for the luncheon (that was a really nice luxury!).  The Hollists hosted this and did an excellent job.  We ate Hawaiin yumminess from Mo Bettas and somewhere else.  We ate, had a program where Charity's friend, Kelly, Nate, me, Hunter's sisters, mom and dad spoke.  It was pretty fun to hear all about them and be able to shower them with love.  This was a highlight of the day and super chill, so that was nice.  We were gearing up for the evening of course.  We quickly made our way over to the Harris's house (Charity's friends who let us use their backyard) and began setting things up.  This actually went pretty smoothly.  The only hangup was that we had left a bunch of the stuff in Hunter's car so it wasn't there yet and that was annoying.  Luckily, I had followed the inspiration to bring our cheesecloths and our drink dispensers.  We were able to set up pretty much everything.  It looked AMAZING!!  Martha McKay was the star when she brought the cake- that was so awesome of her to bring that and help me figure out what to do with it to set the top tier on.  Nobody even knew we weren't experts.  The chair guys did awesome on the ring ceremony set up down on the lower level of the yard and the arch looked great down there.  Took us a while to get the speakers up and running and thanks to the crappy service in that little cove, it was difficult to use what Charity had planned.  But we did it!!  She had Brad as the officiator and he did a fantastic job!!  Everyone loved that she played the Marvel music for Hunter to walk down the aisle.  It was fun to have the Ritchies sitting right behind us as well as the Chambers!  Two rock solid couples.  Grandpa was there and that was good because he was the main reason she was having a ring ceremony.  Molly and Sadie were so happy for their moment to throw the petals and walk down the aisle as flower girls.  Everything went really well.  It was quick, but so good!  Then everyone carried chairs up and we finished getting the food out and then the night was history!!  I've learned that these things go fast!  We were running around a lot doing food and stuff, and thankfully we weren't the only ones- Charity had this amazing friend (I forgot her name at the moment) who just stepped in and helped TREMENDOUSLY!!  She was the one who had to sit and stress as the pretzel bites people took forever (thanks for the discount though!), and then she was just amazing the whole night, restocking the food and stuff.  We had pretzel bites, fruit skewers and cheesecakes with cute mason jars for the lemonade bar, topped off with heart shaped straws!  It was so cute, so fun.  The night was amazing.  I was so shocked at how many came from the ward!  Very cool.  It was not a short drive.  We unfortunately never got the stuff out of Hunter's car and we could never get the tv with the video Kelly made, up and running.  That was a huge bummer.  Grandpa Hatch did everything he could and then I learned that it was my stupid adapter.  Everything else went so well even with all the heat!!  I was literally dripping!!  Thankfully, Sarah had offered (actually forced me to take it- HA!) her hair clip so I didn't look like a drowned rat.  It was a lot of fun to have the Hatches with us.  Sadie and Molly loved playing with Hunter's nieces and their cousins the entire time.  We didn't run out of food.  The two lovebirds did their cake which was so fun.  Then Charity did something completely unexpected and instead of throwing the bouquet, she dedicated it to me!!  SO SWEET!!  I am getting the bouquet she gave me professionally dried and put in a frame.  After that we did the dances- Hunter danced with his mom and Charity with Nate, then Brad tapped in, then Noah tapped in and then Jack tapped in... it was SO CUTE!!  So much fun.  I really loved that touch that night.  The dance party was a big hit.  I loved watching Charity in her moment.  So crazy that this was it.  It got dark a little sooner than I'd planned but we were able to do a cute send off on the driveway with the lights there and all the bubbles.  I thought it looked so cute!  They were adorable, climbed into their car and took off!!  That was that.  We all (us, the Taylors, Hunter's dad and Charity's bridesmaids) ran around frantically cleaning everything up as quickly as we could!  It was SO DARK.  Luckily it had cooled down quite a bit.  We were so fast!  Everyone was starving- especially Jack who hadn't eaten anything since lunch!- so we stopped at McD's on the way home.  Congratulations to Charity and Hunter!  We did it!!  8-21-25

GOODBYE KELLY!!
We had to say goodbye to Kelly- AGAIN!  This has been a rough few months of goodbyes with her, but we're glad she will be back "for good" in just a couple months.  It was so nice of the Hollists to pay for her plane ticket- we appreciated that so much!  And so cool of her to sacrifice time with Devan to be here for Charity.  I know she wouldn't have had it any other way.  8-22-25

JACK'S FRIEND PARTY THAT HE FORGOT TO MENTION WAS FOR HIS BIRTHDAY
Jack invited five friends to go up to Pineview for the morning to play on the paddleboards and have some fun.  We had a great time!  It was short because we needed to get back for soccer games, but I think it was fun enough for them.  We had donuts for everyone, gluten free ones for Jack and Erika, and there was no mention of birthday for some reason.  Nobody brought presents and we didn't sing to him either.  It was so strange that we didn't do any of that and then I found out later, after the fact, that most of the boys didn't know it was his birthday party.  Liam and Will knew, but for some reason didn't bring gifts, but nobody else did.  So funny.  Jack!!  I hope he had fun and feels loved :).  8-23-25

JACK'S FAMILY PARTY
We had a pretty chill little party here at home on Jack's birthday.  He got lots of gifts and had lots of fun. We even played some Viking Chess to top off the night.  Grandma and Simon were so fun to play with us. It was fun to spoil him a little.  I loved watching him put together his scooter- totally did it himself.  Jack is really growing into just the coolest young man.  I'm so proud of him and so grateful to be his mom!  8-25-25

ENOCH COMES HOME!
I was tasked with getting video and photos at the airport so Nate, Bradley and I headed to the airport.  It felt very familiar, having just received Brad there a month prior, but also a relief knowing I've had a wonderful, long month with him!  We were all so excited!  It was really fun to see him come through the doors and struggle to find Meg and then make the rounds to hug everyone.  Such a big smile and so happy!  I just love how these missionaries glow when they get home.  It's so neat!!  We got some good video and photos and then parted ways.  Short and sweet!  But so happy for Meg!!  8-26-25

LUNCH WITH STEPHANIE WOLSEY
We got to go to Red Robin this time :).  Such a nice visit.  I honestly feel like we are somehow joined spiritually.  So grateful for her in my life.  8-28-25

WARD POOL PARTY
Nate was of course in charge of the meat as usual.  We had a great time, as usual.  Things went well!  I was not feeling getting in the pool for some reason.  I knew Lisa would be disappointed in me, but I didn't get in.  I'm still a little sad about it.  I wish I had.  I think I am letting my overweightness dictate my life a little and I really don't want to do that.  But the kids had fun.  We only had two hours so it was over pretty quickly.  It was fun having Charity and Hunter there with us.  So fun that they still want to hang out with us.  Everyone loved seeing them as newlyweds :).  8-29-25

MOLLY'S FRIEND PARTY
We had such a fun party for Molly this year!!  She chose to do a paint night and then photo scavenger hunt at Station Park with a bunch of her friends.  I thought it went really well!  We were so lucky to have Erika teach the paint night- they did a cool sunset picture.  Then split up into two groups one with Charity and one with Erika to go do the scavenger hunt.  We ran into a few issues with getting everyone to station park- I didn't have as many drivers/cars as I'd planned and luckily we didn't try to use the Forerunner because it showed up flat the next day.  But we worked that all out and I think the girls all had a blast.  Molly got such cool presents this year!  We were all loving them :).  I think Molly even had some fun :).  8-30-25

ENOCH'S HOMECOMING
We all went down to Riverton for Enoch's homecoming talk.  He did such a great job.  I loved the part about the Sparrow song.  Very cool.  He has grown so much!  The food and visiting at their house afterwards was great also!  It's always hard to leave, but Nate had to get to work.  8-31-25

FAITH'S BAPTISM
I was so excited for Luke's friend Faith to get baptized this SUnday!!  Luke got to baptize her.  How cool is that!!  I just love being able to hear about these cool experiences.  8-31-25

July 2025

 BAPTISMS WITH THE HATCHES

Noah and Erika got to go to the temple with Brent and Sarah and their kids while I watched all the littles.  Savannah, Izzy and Aria had slept over so they were sleeping through most of the morning.  Even Lilly just slept in her little car seat for most of it.  I decided to make a nice breakfast for everyone when they got back.  That was fun.  7-1-25

VIVIAN PARK WITH GRANDMA SIMON AND THE HATCHES
After baptisms and breakfast, we headed down to Vivian Park in Provo canyon.  This ended up being a lot of fun.  Grandma had some yummy food.  Everyone was fishing with Simon and running around playing all kinds of games together.  We had our frisbee so we climbed treese and fished it off of the pavillion roof for a lot of the time.  Then we went up to Bridal Veil Falls.  Everyone had fun over there too.  Lots of good time together.  7-1-25

4TH OF JULY!!
We did our parade in the morning, next to the Maughans.  That was hot and fun.  Then lots of bumming around in between that and going over to Barnes Park for the fun in the park and Fireworks.  It was a great 4th of July!  We especially loved having the Hatches with us and playing crossnet, football, frisbee, the littles talked grandma and Simon into buying the light up swords so that was fun too.  It was fun to have Charity and Hunter with us and the Maughans showed up as well.  I think Grandpa was there and Granmda and Simon too.  7-4-25

SADIE'S FRIEND PARTY
We decided to celebrate Sadie's birthday with her friends and family a little early this year because we will be camping on her actual birthday.  We found the cutest idea for her friend party on FB reels.  It ended up being a lot of fun!  I got a bunch of cute little stuffed kitties and some little boxes that look like pet carriers and we did a little adopt a kitty day!  It was so fun!  They all got a kitty, picked out it's name, decorated it's box, made it a collar of beads and pipe cleaner, we had some kitty snacks and kitty cupcakes and then they played for a little too long.  I only had one regret and that was not making the party a little shorter.  There was too much dead air at the end.  But overall I think it was a hit!!  Sadie loved it!!  Everyone was so helpful with it- I think we even got Noah and Jack involved in it all :).  Molly and Erika of course wished it was their party.  7-7-25

SADIE'S FAMILY PARTY
Everyone met up at Gailey Park for some kitty cupcakes and creamies.  I think Sadie loved having everyone's attention and it was nice and chill for me :).  Lots of fun gifts and lots of support from everyone.  7-7-25

M&M CAMP
We had an awesome camp again this year!  Things went so well.  We went to Marsh Lake again.  We were in a little bit different camp site, not as close to the water as we liked in the past, but still great.  We kept it pretty chill, even tie dye- Emily forgot their shirts so it was pretty much just us- I gave Jonah one of ours, so he could participate.  Probably the highlight of the camp was watching Josh and Sadie bond.  They had a lot of fun together throwing logs and hammering them.  Josh was so nice to humor her and spend so much time doing what she said.  We also got to celebrate Sadie's birthday with everyone up at camp!  This was fun.  We brought some hostess cupcakes to celebrate.  She loved that.  Nate, Sadie and I all went on a "birthday kayaking trip" and went out on the lake for a while to spend some good time together.  That was fun.  WE did our marshmallow war on the last day, before leaving, just across the road from the campground.  I think this was a good year for the wars- everyone had a better attitude.  Good times though!  7-9-25--7-12-25

MEETING THE HOLLISTS
We met up with Charity, Hunter and his parents at Olive Garden Monday night.  This was a good experience.  I was grateful that they were so nice, friendly and talkative and the evening went really well.  They were also so nice to pay for our portion of the meal.  So generous.  I think this will be a great union of families.  I'm excited to meet the rest of the family.  7-14-25

KEITH'S LUNCHEON
I was lucky enough to get to help set up Martha's son's wedding luncheon.  This was a lot of fun because Krista Johnson and Jodie (forgot her last name) were there as well.  We had so much fun!!  Even went to get some lunch together after at Great Harvest.  Good stuff.  7-15-25

CHARITY'S WARDIE SHOWER
Brooke was so sweet to throw yet another shower- this time for Charity!  It was in her front yard, they served chicken salad sandwiches and other cute little foods- I brought some cupcakes- it was super cute and really chill.  I only wish Charity had been able to share some of the details of how they met and stuff.  But she got lots of fun gifts and had so much support from the ward.  I was really happy about that.  7-19-25

DINNER WITH THE STAKE CAMP DIRECTORS
This was a cool little "meeting" at Cafe Sabor- super yummy!  All the camp directors and Marth, Christa and I all met up and had dinner and got to discuss some of the things we thought went well with Girls camp and then the things that didn't.  It was great!!  I actually really loved it.   We met up with Pres. Perry after and repeated everything we had said earlier :).  This was a great way to pass the time leading up to Brad coming home!!  I was getting super anxious!!  7-21-25

WELCOME HOME ELDER BRADLEY MAYNES!!!
We spent the morning trying to finish up Brad's spot in his room and getting the rest of the house nice.  The kids all made their posters to hold up- it was cute how into this everyone was- even Noah looking up the perfect quote for it.  They all worked very hard.  It was very exciting- felt like Christmas!  We all headed down to the airport a little early, found the perfect spot by the doors he would come out- it was literally as close as we could get to where he would come out- not that they were happy we were there and not that they didn't tell us to move a million times, but it was the perfect spot!  We could see the people who were going to walk through the doors through some frosted glass, before they could see us, so Nate was watching that pretty closely.  We had a bunch of family show up- Grandma Ruthie, Grandpa Hatch, Grandma Hatch and Simon, Meg and Chris, it was pretty exciting!!  There wasn't anything that could pull my attention away from those doors though!  I was focused :).  Probably annoyingly so.  But what a surge of relief when he came through those doors!!!  HOLY MOLY!!  The cheers!  The smiles!  All the hugs!  Mine first of course :).  What a cool moment that was!!  I was so relieved!!  There's just so much pride and love and relief and gratitude for him being in one piece.  Made the whole two years worth it :).  Maybe.  But SO cool!!  He made the rounds and hugged everyone.  Me again :).  He quickly pulled out the pink and purple llamas he had bought for Molly and Sadie.  They were so excited!  Molly showed him her llama sign- they had a little llama thing going the whole time he was gone- super cute.  We snapped a few pictures (totally should have gotten more), and kind of urgently made our way to Costa Vida just right there by the airport.  We needed to feed Brad- he had to be starving- and then get back to the airport to pick up Kelly!  We had a good time introducing Hunter and Brad and everyone catching up on each other.  Brad was SO TIRED, but managed to be pretty fun with us.  Meg and Chris came to Costa Vida with us along with Grandpa.  Thankfully grandpa had room for Brad's luggage (We had filled the van to capacity and didn't have any room), so he took that and we headed back over to the airport for Kelly and Devan.  This was a fun little moment- Brad stood outside the car with the sign we had made welcoming them and we all got to see them hug.  That was a very happy reunion for sure.  It was so good to see Kelly and Brad together again.  That was fun.  We listened to EFY music all the way home.  I showed Brad my Window to His Love song.  We got home and grandpa met up with us with Brad's luggage and he unloaded it all, all over the living room and gave away all his cool Peru stuff.  Ties, pj pants, hats, hoodies, ponchos, blankets, he gave me these really cool nativities- so cool!  It was a lot of fun.  It was so surreal having him home.  Almost felt like he had never been gone really.  Even though he's had a whole life without us basically.  He was pretty tired so we let him sleep.  Then we had meatballs and mashed potatoes as he had requested, for dinner.  It was so great having him at family prayer and seeing him in his bed that night.  Made my mom heart happy.  Such a relief.  7-22-25

BRAD, KELLY AND DEVAN WITH ALL OF US
The next few days are a blur to me now (again, three months later), everything is running together.  There was some games, not as many as we used to play because Brad doesn't love playing games :).  Lots of basketball which was so fun to watch!  We went and played gaga ball at the school which was really fun.  That was Pioneer day- we really didn't do anything for that.  Maybe a barbecue- see I am drawing a blank.  We ate out a bunch.  We had Kelly and Devan a little before they had to leave for their cruise, but didn't feel long enough for any of us.  And sharing them with the Brenchleys felt kind of hard that week.  I was exhausted if we are being honest and I was given the okay to not be planning every minute out, so I didn't.  But I did wish I'd done a little more planning when we were begging people to hang out with us :).  We did make time to go to the temple and that was nice.  The overall feeling was still relief having most of us together.  Made us miss Luke extra tho.  And saying goodbye to Kelly was another hard day.  We will get through it all though!  7-23-25--7-25-25

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATE!!
I honestly don't remember what we did for Nate's birthday.  I feel horrible it's left my mind.  But I do have pictures of him blowing out candles so I'm pretty sure we celebrated a little :).  Maybe I need to ask someone to jog my memory.  

CHARITY'S MAYNES FAMILY SHOWER
This was a fun shower- Jen threw it with Sydney's expertise.  Everything was so cute.  It was in Lynn and Ali's yard.  They had the cutest tea party type theme with tea cup cupcakes on shelves and fruit kabobs.  Some cute drinks with fruit to add- this is where Sadie got the adding fruit to her drinks obsession.  Some chicken salad sandwiches.  This was a combined shower with Kaleigh- Caden's fiance- so that was fun.  I loved watching them open all the Star Wars and fun gifts they got.  I think they were good and spoiled.  During the shower, Nate and the kids all came to pick up Kelly.  We had to say goodbye to her from there, Nate was taking her to the airport.  So sad!!  But very cool that she was able to come to as much as she was.  There were lots of people there for Charity along with Grandma Hatch even.  It was a good time.  We had to stop at CHick-fil-a on the way home for Erika- she couldn't eat much there and was starving from her sleepover with Charity.  Kinda funny really.  So nice of Jen to throw a shower!  7-26-25

BRADLEY'S HOMECOMING TALK AND BRUNCH
The day came- it was time for Brad to report to the ward and family that came.  It wasn't as full of a house as when he left, since the friends were all on missions, but there was a lot of support.  He had asked if Charity and Hunter could sing at his Homecoming and sure enough, Jay let them :).  So we got to hear Charity and Hunter also.  They did such an amazing job.  It was such a beautiful arrangement and then just blend so well.  It was so pretty.  Brad did such a fantastic job on his talk.  I loved the focus on the Savior and not on himself and how he learned that that was the way to happiness on the mission.  It was neat to hear how much he has grown.  We came to the house after sacrament meeting and had pancakes with all the toppings as well as leftovers from the shower the day before.  It didn't quite go how I'd planned and I forgot to get the other pans of pancakes out of the oven when we ran out, but it was fine.  Brad seemed happy!  He did have Brandon there and cute Anna and Kate Larsen.  It's always fun to see his friends, they're so fun.  He had a lot of family here as well.  Even Ike Ferguson- my dad's cousin- came.  He had been on Brad's email list and just loved what a great missionary he was, he had emailed him a bunch and just felt really impressed by him.  He said he doesn't usually go to everyone's homecomings, but he wanted to hear Brad speak.  Pretty neat!  It was nice to have him here to talk to about his life and things he's done for the church too.  So fun.  It was a packed day and then it ended!  And it was time to get ready for our family campout!!  7-27-25

THE FAMILY CAMPOUT- LOST LAKE
We got Lost Lake again, with the yurts, I think this was our fourth year here.  Maybe.  It was such a good week!!  It was so heavenly having Brad there with us the whole time, teaching us cool things and telling us about his mission.  We got to have Charity and Hunter with us as well.  It was sad to not have Luke and Kelly and Devan, but we survived.  I am not going to get all the details of this camp out, but some things that are standing out to me are:
When Molly caught her fish in her net!  She came running up from the creek almost screaming and EVERYONE jumped up and got really excited for her!  It was so much fun!!  The look of satisfaction on her face as she experienced everyone's praise and adoration... priceless.  This is why I love siblings so much!  
Brad inviting me to watch him fish :).  Nobody ever does that.  
The MOOSE!!  That was so dang cool!  Brad and I saw him up across the road in the weeds and then he made his way down the road and down through OUR CAMP and down to the shore of the lake.  We followed him quite a ways and then let him go.  We tried to wake people up while he was in our camp and get everyone to see him, but it was difficult.  Nate and Noah came out.  So cool though.
It was fun to see Brad and Sadie back together again.  Actually Brad and everyone.  He left a big hole while he was gone.  
All of our fun sitting around the campfire games- Smurf, Wavelength, Never Have I Ever, I don't think we played four on the couch this time. 
Hunter was the fire guy this year, he built a LOT of fires and ran through a LOT of trivia for Jack :).
Jack did great with his diabetes!  Almost no hangups!
It was a little colder this year than in years past.  That was a little bit of a bummer.
But we all had a good time.  It was a great way to spend that first whole week together.  Til next year!  7-28-25--8-1-25

June 2025

 CAMP MEETINGS
I got to take part in a couple camp meetings this week.  Getting all ready for camp.  It was cool to see the whole committee working together and going the extra mile on their individual stewardships.  Very cool.  This camp is so inspired, I'm excited to see how it goes.  6-1-25

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO KELLY!
Kelly's birthday came and went!  We were glad we got to talk to her, but again, it's always so weird to celebrate without the birthday kid.  I think she enjoyed the pizzas we got her and Devan for dinner, Devan was kind enough to help me with that surprise.  Then he spoiled her with a cool date as well.  So that was fun.  Kelly is a blessing in our lives.  We definitely wouldn't be us without her.  6-2-25

RACHEL'S FAREWELL
I was really happy we were able to make this happen- we have not missed any of the Idaho Maynes's farewells.  I think we missed Isaac's homecoming, but not the farewells.  So that was cool to be there for her.  She did awesome on her talk- she will be a great missionary!!  We got to see their new house as well and that was pretty fun.  I like the roadtripping nature of these trips and that we get to spend some time together with Nate on a Sunday!  Rare!  6-8-25

GIRLS CAMP- FUEL YOUR FLAME
I felt so privileged to be able to go to Stake Girls Camp this year!!  This is my sanctuary.  The theme was amazing I loved the way they planned this, I was really excited for all of it.  Since I am writing this about three months later, I am going to have to summarize.  I wish I'd been more diligent with my journaling though, because it was such a great experience!!
Some of the Highlights:
- I got to ride up and back with Martha- that was pretty fun. We found out we have very similar issues with sisters and parents.  Kinda funny.
- I loved meeting all of the stake camp leaders and having a whole new group of friends. 
- President Emily Belle Freeman randomly showed up at our camp and bore her testimony!
- Having Pierce Morris come and perform for the girls and their hilarious reaction to having a cute guy at camp!  Grace Layton was SO MUCH FUN that night.  
- Meeting all the girls over and over again as I served food each meal.
- Playing Fishbowl with the Shadowbrook ward girls.  They were so sweet to invite Christa and I up to their camp.  
- So much time with Erika and being able to be there for her.
- Late night chats in the tent for a little bit before going to sleep.
- So much opportunity to serve.
- Feeling my Heavenly Father's love for me and for all the young women.
- Meeting Izzy and her dad and talking Celiac.
- The funny snake prank at Shadowbrook camp
- Martha's giant hand from her bee sting

Some of the things that were not my favorite:
- Having to end our games with the shadowbrook girls early.
- Not getting to use our brand new tent- and having to reprimand Erin for trying to take it down herself.
- SO MUCH WALKING and FOOD PREP!!  I was SO exhausted when I got home.
- Not enough time with the Young Women
- Not sleeping very well the first night
- Not wanting to take a shower but having everyone tell me I should- felt a little weird.  
- Feeling really out of place at Ponds Park Ward Camp
- The Ponds Park ward trailer and truck getting stranded on the way to camp- Erika didn't get up until a few hours after it started
- Not feeling connected with Martha and hearing about all the things she was doing and fixing and not really being a part of any of that.  
- Not loving my devotional.  The mic wasn't turned on at first, so I had to yell and then they turned it on and it just felt weird.  I ended it too soon and didn't bear strong enough testimony.  I wish I'd put more into that.  

Overall it was an awesome girls camp!!  I loved it!!  6-9-25--6-12-25

THEY DID IT!! CHARITY AND HUNTER ARE ENGAGED!!!
Sunday night, Charity showed up randomly, pretty late too, but only a few seconds in to the visit, she announced that Hunter had proposed and showed us her beautiful ring!! This was a fun night, we all sat around and listened to the whole story of how Hunter had been trying to surprise her and she kept kind of interfering, so finally their friends helped out a little and planned a picnic to the Saratoga Springs temple.  They were able to take a little private walk and he popped the question!  She has a cute video of all of it, so that was fun and we were all so excited for them!!  They are planning on getting married on Friday, August 22nd.  It's time to really start planning!!

NOAH AT FSY
While I was at girls camp, Noah was at FSY.  He had another great year!  This time he went without a friend for his roommate and I think it went really well.  I should have him write about it.  But it has been three months.  6-9-25--6-14-25

EVAN AND HANNAH RECEPTION
We were not able to make it up to Idaho for the sealing, but Nate made a huge presence with the sliders he made and showing up with the kiddos.  I was so exhausted from girls camp that i didn't make it, but it was cool that Nate was there.  The girls liked playing with Ainsley.  6-12-25

NATE CATERING THE HORSE SHOW
Nate and a few of the kids sold sandwiches at the horse show over by the gardens.  Pretty cool opportunity.  I don't think he came out with as much business as anticipated, but still cool.  6-13-25

FATHER'S DAY BREAKFAST
I have no idea where we went for breakfast, somewhere in Provo to accommodate picking up Noah and being closer to Charity, but I was so happy we did something different for Nate this year.  6-14-25

FATHER'S DAY 
This was a great day!  We spoiled Nate with breakfast in bed and all the love in the morning.  We had put together this really cute book- each kid got to make a page in the book with either memories or pictures.  It turned out really cute!!  I was so happy with it!  I even got Brad and Luke to contribute.   I think Nate felt good and spoiled.  6-15-25

ERIKA FSY
We took Erika down to FSY this week!  She went with Kate this time.  She REALLY loved her group and had so much fun with them all, she's met up with a few of them to do baptisms and stuff since then.  So this was a really great FSY year for her.  6-16-25--6-21-25

YOUNG MENS CAMP
Nate took the young men backpacking again this year!!  This was a much anticipated event.  Not just for Nate.   Jack was pretty excited and Noah was all geared up.  They did a little more to get the other young men ready and planned out the meals a little differently than last time, so it was going to be even better!  I think they ended up having a really great time.  Nate's pulled pork meal worked out great.  They had done an easy enough hike for a lot of the leaders to participate.  It was just a good time.  I was so happy that things went so well with Jack's diabetes stuff and he and Nate took good care of him.  Kinda stressful for me to not have any contact with them at all, but we all survived.  Jack had a really good time.  6-18-25--6-21-25

ELIO, SWIMMING POOL, STRAWBERRY FLUFF
While the boys and Erika were gone, we got a new swimming pool to play with in the backyard and made good use of that.  We saw the movie Elio which was super cute and we all loved it.  Molly and I made some strawberry fluff that didn't really live up to the hype we had created ourselves.  6-18-25--6-21-25

CALLING THE STAKE YOUTH COMMITTEE
I was asked to sit in with Brother John Pohlman as we called new youth to serve on the Stake Youth Committee.  This was interesting. I wish I had come at it with a different expectation.  But it was good.  Very cool experience really.  6-22-25

WEDDING DRESS SHOPPING WITH CHARITY
This was a highlight!!  Charity invited Erika, Molly, Sadie, me and her two friends Barb and Grace? (I might be getting her name wrong) to go dress shopping with her!!  We went ot the same place Kelly went to.  Charity picked out all the features she wanted and proceeded to show us a few dresses!  I think it was about the 2nd or 3rd and she just came out beaming.  We all knew it was the one.  She looked beautiful in all the dresses she tried, but this one especially!  So gorgeous!!  This was fun for all of us to be a part of it. I think we went to cold stone after. 6-24-25

BACKPACKING WITH ALL THE KIDS!  SADIE'S FIRST TIME!!
Nate and the kids planned a really simple backpacking trip so that they could take Sadie this year!  This was an incredible experience for all of us!!  I heard that Sadie walked about eight miles on their hike and that she carried her own pack the whole time!!  Pretty impressive.  Everyone did really well, including Jack with his diabetes management.  I was so relieved to hear how well it all went!!  I'm always a little jealous of the stories they all have from it and wish I could be there with them, but I am also very happy to have some time to myself.  Plus I think it's good for them to get time with just their dad!  6-25-25--6-28-25

TOO MUCH ME TIME
So, this was a first for me- I had three days basically to myself.  It was going to be interesting for sure.  I had a lot I wanted to get done and so much planned, but when it came down it it, it was not possible to do it all.  I did get a lot done in my closet and bedroom/bathroom which made me happy.  I was able to get out with different friends and people and I did have some fun as well.  It's never as productive as I want it to be, but I was literally going the entire time.  It was not lazy time.  It started with lunch with the Barbaras.  We met up at Barbara Noriegas, they had picked up all our food.  This was nice!  I loved chatting with them.  Then I was able to go up to Marianne's school for a face peel- pretty awesome and relaxing.  Thursday morning I had breakfast with Charity for our date, then lunch with Steve a little later.  That was funny because we met this lady in a wheel chair because I had helped her get into The Habit and she kind of stole our whole conversation time.  I was a little bummed about that, but we got some good laughs in.  That evening, Marianne and I went on a REALLY LONG walk up the bike trail in west kaysville.  This was nice too and I was so happy to have that time with her.  Lots of talking and eating Tru Fru!  Friday I made it to the temple and I had dinner with someone.  I am drawing a blank on who it was for some reason.  Saturday morning was the Stowell Reunion and I had to go by myself.  It was kind of a bummer to not have the kids and Nate there.  I brought Izzy and Aria home with me to greet the kids and Nate when they got home!!  LOTS OF STUFF!!  So crazy!  We were so excited to have the Hatches here too!  6-25-25--6-28-25

GRANDPA'S HOUSE WITH THE HATCHES
We were invited to the Hatches' hangout with Grandpa Saturday night.  That was a lot of fun.  We got some pizzas and went and invaded grandpa's house.  It was a lot of fun to catch up with Sarah and hear about all that they are doing. Sadie and Aria are soul mates again.  6-28-25

PINEVIEW WITH THE HATCHES
This has become kind of a fun new tradition.  We didn't have a ton of time to hang out, but we wanted to get up to the lake.  All of Brent and my other ideas were too expensive or difficult to pull off, but this one was fun and worked out.  It was fun to sit and talk with Sarah and I got to hold cute little Lilly. We came back to our house after and played a bunch of our fun games- the couch one and fishbowl.  Lots of fun. 6-30-25