Bradley's Ordination

BRADLEY'S ORDINATION
This was a new one for our family!  A day I hope I don't ever forget!  What a special event, to watch my son- the boy I carried for 39 weeks inside of me and gave birth to 12 years ago!- receive the Priesthood and become a Deacon.  SO COOL!  It was nice that the Bishop didn't rush us along, even though he probably should have since had had about a thousand setting aparts to do.  And it was nice that Bradley got to ask the questions he needed answers to and that he was able to have everyone's undivided attention at that moment.  I was grateful for quiet kids and supportive grandparents who were there.  What a neat experience.  I really hope Bradley writes about this in his journal.  It's really fun for me to think about the fact that we now have two Priesthood holders in our home!  So cool.  None of us knew that Nate was going to get to ordain him either- that was AWESOME!  What a great day!  I loved it!  10-9-16

and just for the record I totally had to slouch in this picture to have my arm under Bradley's... he's not quite taller than me yet!!  I just don't want this messing with history.  Look how handsome he is though :).  What a cute kid.

Bradley's 12th Birthday!

BRADLEY'S BIRTHDAY
Bradley's big day came and went!!  What an exciting day!  I can't believe he's 12!  I've got to stop blinking, seriously!  I am SO excited for him to get the Priesthood!  This is just too cool.  I think he's excited too.  Maybe a little nervous about how to pass the sacrament :), but he's ready!  Young Mens will be really fun with his Dad there too.  Cool stuff!  So birthday morning was pretty normal.  His sign (that I wrote, "Happy 12th Birthday, Birthday") was hanging up.  Don't worry I fixed it later on.  He got the chocolate chip muffins he wanted for breakfast and then headed off to school with his Dad for his big field trip!  I worked on his cake all morning.  It was actually a pretty easy one- only took a couple hours which was nice and even nicer that Molly slept through the WHOLE THING!  WOW!!  I had Will and Jack's help with determining what things were and how they tasted.  They were hilarious.  Then we took Bradley's birthday treat to his class and came home to get things ready for his "party".  He had chosen to go to the Dart Side so we all went up there and played for an hour and a half (I think they miscounted or something because we started at 4:10ish, but were still going at 5:40.)  I kept Molly company while everyone played.  Nate and I were going to trade places halfway through, but he just looked like he was having too much fun to make him stop and come wrestle Molly.  So I let him play :).  But I totally missed out!  It looked like a lot of fun!  It was fun to see how good Erika was :).  Bradley got to have one of the special guns and he rocked that thing!  He had a great time!  I was glad.  After that we went over to Chik-fil-a and had some dinner, Brad's choice.

We came home and Grandpa Hatch and Dawn and then Grandma Hatch and Simon came over to help us celebrate!  It was a nice relaxing evening.  Bradley was really polite and grateful for all the gifts and sat and visited with everyone.  I was proud of him.  He even politely reminded me what time it was (about 10 times :) ), "It's 8 o'clock, Mom!"  Like I was supposed to care or something :).  Haha.  I had been doing the 12 hours of his birthday for him- giving him a little gift each hour for 12 hours on his day.  He was anxious for the next gift :).  Made me laugh.  I'm glad he liked it.  He got a new fishing pole and lures and a date with me as his really big gifts.  I think he had a good day.  I just love that kid.  He's one of my favorite people.  He has always been so sweet to me and such a good friend to his family.  I love who he is in this world and the influence I think he has.  He really is going to do big things.  I can't wait to see what.  10-7-16

Cornbelly's

CORNBELLY'S
NATCA held a little family activity at Cornbelly's down by Thanksgiving point.  It was kind of a last minute thing for us, but ended up being pretty spectacular!  Even though it was a little cold and getting really dark (with little lighting) the kids LOVED it!  We did the baseball pitch with the radar to see how fast you can throw.  I was really impressed with Bradley's 44 mph and Nate's 50!  They did the basketball shooting, played in the corn pit- which was actually a favorite of most of the kids'- they had a LOT of fun in there.  It was funny to watch them dumping buckets of corn on each other.  I have a feeling I'll be seeing some of said corn in the laundry.  We watched the pig races- they loved that too!  The cute little piggies were pretty adorable.  Bradley got chosen to go up and cheer for a pig.  His didn't win, but he got a little pig snout and had to do a little dance in front of everyone.  There were lots of cute little games nad activities, the duck races, Rat Roller, the big slide, Tractor Pull, animatronic chickens (that I remember Bradley loving when he was little and we went there for his Joy School field trip :) ), and of course the Corn Maze.  This was an interesting part of the night.  I was surprised they wanted to do it, but we did and actually did pretty well.  We didn't get a BINGO, but we didn't spend too much time in there either, which was a plus.  I downloaded the map of the maze on my phone and was able to direct us out.  Luke really liked it of course and we all survived.  It was a fun, cold night!  We stopped to get churros for our family night treat on the way home.  10-3-16

Molly and some steps

This little girl is a blast!  If she's not cuddling with me in the chair, she's teasing someone :).  She really does love a good joke.  It's fun to watch her tease her brothers and her dad like a teenage girls would :).  So sweet!

Found some snacks in the girls room.  I hope they tasted good with the boogers.

Bradley and Luke figured out that they could get Molly to take some little steps if they held this ball out for her :).  It sure was cute to watch everyone gather around and get all excited for her :).  

I just love this face