September 2024

 MOLLY'S 9TH BIRTHDAY
It was fast Sunday on Molly's birthday this year.  Kind of hard to really celebrate, but still really awesome!  She loved her birthday sign that we worked so hard on.  She was happy to open presents before church.  She seemed happy all day which was nice.  She got to have dippy eggs for breakfast, spaghetti for dinner.  We kind of just bummed around most of the day.  She got to use her new donut maker all afternoon and I think she's already got it!  Kinda cool.  She's such a sweet, fun girl.  I am so grateful for her inquisitive mind and that she is always thinking and wanting to learn more.  She is such a fun little tease and enjoys a good prank.  We love Molly and love having her in our family.  9-1-24

MOVING KELLY DOWN TO PROVO WITH CHARITY
We spent the evening of Molly's birthday moving Kelly's stuff down to Provo.  This was a fun little adventure.  I was happy we had so much help from the kids.  They are so good to help out.  Even Molly on her birthday of all days :).  It was fun.  I especially loved sitting and chatting at the end.  I hope this is a good place for them and they enjoy living together for a bit.  9-1-24

BRAD'S PHONE CALL
On the way home from Provo, we got to talk to Brad.  He was being funny that night.  It's always fun to see him and hear how things are going.  He really wanted to hear more about what Luke was doing, how things were going with the mission preparations.  We're actually getting closer now!  9-1-24

MAYNES FAMILY LABOR DAY PICNIC
We had so much fun at this little party.  We all met up at the Spruce's Picnic area.  We got to make a puzzle piece, paint rocks with marker paints, lots of food and visiting.  Everyone seemed to have a good time.  I was glad that Sadie was getting along so well with Aynsley.  She and Aynsley followed Nancy around and stayed pretty entertained.  That was nice.  I loved talking wtih everyone and being able to relax a little.  We had the privilege of driving Evan to Jaxson and Bailey's in Ogden where his car was.  So that was fun.  Mostly for Sadie because she insisted that he sit in the very back of the car (we had the middle row out) next to her.  Kinda funny.  But we liked being able to visit with him a little.  9-2-24

FHE
We talked about prayer and drew pictures of answered prayers for Molly's lesson.  Very cool.  I loved that she finally came up with one for her program part!  9-2-24

FIRST DAY AT LISA'S POPCORN
I was surprised at how not nervous I was for this job.  I mean, I had moments, but for the most part, I was pretty relaxed about it.  I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was.  I wasn't very fast, but I was getting the hang of it all.  I was working with Aumberlie and she was really helpful at training me.  Tanner was gone most of the time that day so she had a lot to teach me.  It was pretty good though, went well.  I was tired, but got to bring home some leftover popcorn :).  9-3-24

NOAH'S NEUROLOGY APPOINTMENT
We finally got to see the neurologist.  She was really nice.  Very thorough.  Kind of just went over what happened, how he's recovering.  She recommended several places for him to follow up with.  She gave some advice about not babying things.  She also gave us the good news that in 2 years if he hasn't had any other trouble, he can have it cleared from his health concerns.  Kinda cool.  We loved the Valet Parking at the U. 9-4-24

MOLLY BIRTHDAY TABLE
This was awesome!  We loved being able to go have lunch with Molly!  She was cute, super sweet, ate her Dylan's grilled cheese sandwich, onion rings, shake and got her little prize and then she was done and out of there pretty quick!  Kinda funny.  But we had a great time.  9-6-24

LUKE AND THE TEMPLE!
We finally got to take Luke to the temple this week!  It was such a neat experience.  And I only say finally for me- he was so wise to wait until he felt ready.  Things took a little longer because Pres. Larsen was out of town, but it was so cool that Luke felt like the time was necessary.  He's very patient.  More so than me.  Anyway.  Such a neat experience!!  I will never forget this temple session, I don't think.  It was so unusual.   We got into the endowment room and had to wait about 20 minutes while they tried to locate a girl's grandparents.  20 minutes!  Her cute grandpa as he came in the room with a big smile- I really loved that he didn't feel any remorse for sitting in his locker room stall for no reason- HA!  Funny stuff.  THEN the grandma, of the same girl, passed out the first time we stood up during the ceremony!  It was so strange!!  She passed out and then they picked her up and we all continued!  Kinda crazy!  It was a very memorable time indeed.  Luke had invited his grandmas and his sisters :).  Very cool little group.  We got pictures after and then had some dinner at Mo'bettas.  Then he took off to go camping with his friends!  I was hoping his garments were a good fit.  Unfortunately, it took us several tries to get the right sizes for him.  I think we did okay in the end though.  9-6-24

STAKE YOUTH CONFERENCE
I don't think I got enough feedback about this activity to really write anything.  They all had a good time while they were there.  I did hear about Erika making cars for little kids- that sounded fun.  They ate chick-fil-a of course and then that night they got to go to a fun concert that everyone seemed to really enjoy.  Everyone being: Noah, Erika and Jack.  So a win for them.  9-7-24

SOCCER
We have some really awesome soccer teams this year!!  It's been a lot of fun!  Molly had a rough game this week, with her coach really weirdly expecting too much out of her and being really confusing with instructions, but she toughed it out so good!  And all three of our teams CREAMED the other teams. It's been a lot of fun!  9-7-24

FAIRY GARDEN PARTY
Grandma invited us all to her house for a fun little fairy garden party.  We ate fairy food and then went out and set up the fairy garden and visited a lot.  Sadie and Molly love this.  Erika got way into it too.  Jack didn't make it, he was with friends and the concert.  Erika had to leave in the middle in fact.  But it was a fun night!  9-7-24

PRIMARY PROGRAM PRACTICE #1
This we decided to have, kind of spur of the moment, last week.  We knew I wasn't going to be here for the next week, but then found out Brooke wouldn't be there either, so I suggested we move it up.  Thankfully that was an option.  Things went pretty well.  I would have rather sang the songs along with saying parts, but it was fine.  All was well.  I was happy that everything went okay.  9-8-24

FAMILY MEETING
We went up a little late this week, but they had waited for us.  This felt like a shorter lesson but was really nice to discuss.  I wish I could remember what it was.  It was fun to talk with everyone after.  9-8-24

LUNCH WITH MEG AND SIERRA
Meg and I had planned to go to lunch together Monday and then at the family meeting we decided it would be fun to invite Luke and Sierra to come with us.  As it turned out- Nate was also off that day so he came as well (working on the yard for the farewell)!  Super fun!  Meg let Luke pick where we went- Moe's is his new obsession, so we went there.  It was so yummy!  I forgot how good that place is!  We had a great time talking and then talked some more at home til 4:00!  Good stuff.  9-9-24

DATE WITH LUKE
We got to go to the temple Tuesday as part of our date.  This was his second time going.  This session had a special needs lady in the front that was super wiggly- involuntarily just moving the entire time- I found it so interesting that that went on during Luke's second session- and we ended up going to the Bountiful Temple this time.  Luke has always had a connection with people with special needs.  I am not sure why.  I just feel like there's a reason.  But anyway- I loved going and with Luke.  It was awesome.  After the temple, we came home and changed and then went to go get Sushi at Sushi Monster after.  It was a fun date.  Probably our last.  At least for two years.  Hopefully Luke knows how much I love him!  9-10-24

LUKE MISSION PHOTOSHOOT
We tried to talk ourselves out of this because it was not the best night, but luckily we didn't because the next day there was a huge fire on the mountain and everything was smokey for a day.  But we had a good time, Nate, Luke and I over at the Layton temple.  First time taking pictures there!  Pretty fun.  He looks so handsome, the pictures turned out amazing even with some crazy lighting options.  It was a little hazy too.  But I really like what we got.  I think Luke likes them!  I'm glad we got the flag in the right orientation in a few pictures.  It's getting more and more real everyday!  9-10-24

UTAH STATE FAIR 2024
We were so happy we were able to make this day work!!  Our fun tradition stands.  We got in free this year on Patriot Day and that was a bonus.  We went over to the Hands On farm first- of course.  Everyone was funny through this.  It didn't seem like they tried as hard this year, kind of run down as far as how they ran it, but the kids love it no matter what.  Then we went and saw Adam the Great again.  He picked Charity this time for his volunteer which was pretty fun.  I think she did the same exact trick as Brad did.  Kinda funny.  We went through all the animal buildings even though they were kind of empty.  We saw the cute petting farm area, we want to volunteer there next year.  We saw the Fine Arts building, nobody we knew entered, so it was a quick walk through.  We loved the businesses and the craft displays.  We saw Claire's quilt almost by accident as we were leaving.  Glad we saw that.  The kids got to choose a treat or buy something.  Molly bought a little purse.  Sadie got dippin dots.  A bunch of them got funnel cakes at the end of the night.  It was a fun time.  We were happy Charity and Hunter joined us!  Missed Kelly and Brad though.  9-11-24

ANOTHER INTERVIEW
I don't know why I planned it this way, but I scheduled an interview right after work thursday.  It ended up being a really long drive down to west jordan.  I was not thrilled with the drive all the way there. The job was delivering medical supplies and medications to people's homes.  Super easy.  But with the drive to that place and then back up here, it just didn't seem like it was going to be enough money to make up for gas.  I declined after they gave me the job.  9-12-24

FUN RUN!
Molly and Sadie do not feel the same way about the Fun Run that some of the older kids did.  It was interesting to see the contrast.  They were excited though.  Molly has had a hurt foot for quite a while so I wasn't sure if she should even run, but she did it!  They both did actually!  I think this was the first year we only needed to be there for one of the race times.  We watched them both run, cheered them on!  Then saw them cross the finish line and get their popsicles and pictures.  It felt really short this year!  But they did so good!  I am really proud of them for doing it!  I was glad they didn't have to feel any pressure to win and that they were happy with that as well :).  9-13-24

GETTING READY FOR LUKE'S FAREWELL
I was actually really happy for his farewell and that we were going to get the house all cleaned up :).  It went even better than I thought though, with everyone's help!  I was so proud of everyone.  I hope I never forget Noah and Jack washing the outside windows!  They did a great job and it was so cute to see them working together.  The house looked amazing!  Even Sadie was in shock, walking up the stairs to a closed Laundry room door- she couldn't figure out what had happened- HA!  Well, I don't know if I should laugh at that or cry.  It's a bit of an eye sore up there, but whatever.  So nice to get it all cleaned up.  9-14-24

LUKE'S FAREWELL
Luke did such a good job on his talk!!  That's what this is all about right!  He did so good.  I was so proud of him and all that he learned and shared in his talk.  He was speaking on Faith and really killed it.  I love learning things from my kids.  Makes me happy.  I will try to put his talk on here when I have more time.  I loved what he said about his family and about his brother being out with him.  It was really cool that Brad was able to call in and listen to his talk.  This is getting so real we can taste it!  He had so many friends and family here to support and eat all the pulled pork sandwiches and giant bowl of muddy buddies.  So fun to have that time for Luke.  He finally went outside and played basketball in his church clothes.  It was fun to watch him.  He's going to be such a great missionary.  9-15-24

SADIE
"I hurt Jack, so I said a prayer for his lip to feel better in my room" 9-18-24

LUNCH WITH MEG
We got to go to lunch with Meg again, kind of a rerun, cuz she let Luke pick Moe's again :).  Chris came with us all this time- Nate was here too- we went and picked up our food and then brought it back this time.  It was fun to talk with Meg- I feel bad cuz I kind of unloaded on here all the recent family drama.  She was nice to listen.  It was a good time though.  So nice of them to come all the way out here.  9-20-24

DATE NIGHT
Nate and I weren't really hungry after eating his pork bites and mac and cheese, so we just went to a movie.  We saw the "Am I Racist" movie.  Very well done.  Very cool.  We laughed a LOT.  9-20-24

PRIMARY PRACTICE #2
I went early to get everything set up then left for Molly's soccer game (which she CREAMED the other team) and came back a little late.  Things were up and running when I got back.  I wish it hadn't felt like I was in charge but not in charge, but it went just fine.  It will be too long, but oh well.  9-21-24

PRIMARY PROGRAM
Well, it came and went finally!  We had our program Sunday.  It was a little stressful getting there, but during it I really was able to relax a little and enjoy it.  That was good.  Some of the things I love that we did was having the older kids help the younger ones- I loved that.  They did awesome too.  With a little help from a couple teachers which I think is fine.  I think if I did it again I would do shorter parts for some of them.  It was a little long.  I liked how the seating chart worked, I feel like you could mostly see the kids just fine.  But I think next time I would just sit the big kid next to the class of younger kids they are helping so they can help walk them up there.  Maybe.  I would probably go back to doing a microphone for the two younger classes sitting at the front of the stand.  That was a way better way.  I wouldn't have changed it if it hadn't been for Kris, but it was fine.  Overall, I think it was awesome!  I don't know why, but I sort of hope I get to do it again next year- just to fix my mistakes :). Kelly came and Grandma and Simon.  So fun. 9-22-24

LUKE'S SETTING APART
This was another highlight on Sunday.  We got to witness Luke's setting apart as missionary!!  President Larsen said some things to begin with and we talked for a minute and then he gave him the longest blessing I think any of us have ever heard (with the exception of a patriarchal blessing maybe), but it was so beautiful!  And I think there were so many good things said about the qualities Luke possesses that will benefit him out in the field along with some blessings to help him out there as well.  I am really excited to see Luke thriving in that position.  I know he will do a good job.  We all got to share a few little thoughts about him afterwards, that was nice.  I was able to talk about what a rule follower Luke was as a kid and how much he appreciates rules and has learned obedience and the blessings that come from it throughout his life.  He really has been so obedient.  I love that about Luke.  It was a really special moment.  I was glad Charity and Kelly were there for it all.  Such a beautiful time.  He put his little name tag on and here we go!!  Super excited for him.  9-22-24

HOME MTC
So far home MTC has been "boring", "long", "tiring", "hard", he likes his short comp who also likes basketball and will be fun to beat in the MTC :).  He's learned how to teach with the spirit, how to use the Book of Mormon, Missionary standards, and how to handle stress.  He's handling things really well, not taking any naps or missing class, which makes me proud of him.  He's done awesome.  It's very obvious it's not his favorite thing, but he is toughing it out quite nicely. I'm sure eating out for lunch everyday has been helpful though (Moe's, Panda, Jimmy Johns, Sushi...).  Hopefully these last few days can go by quicker.  I'm so proud of him!  9-23-24--

LAST TIME OUT FOR SUSHI WITH LUKE
We were so glad Luke's lunch was a little longer today, Nate and I really wanted to take him out for sushi one last time, so that's what we did.  Monster Sushi for lunch!  It's always fun to be with Luke and when you know how much he likes sushi, it's just fun to take him out.  He looks so handsome in his nametag and everything.  It was awesome.  I will miss these times with him.  9-28-24

CATCH UP
Feels like it's been a while since I updated the blog- thought I would do a little update on everyone.  Sadie is loving Kindergarten so far.  She can't wait to jump out of the car each morning trying to beat whoever is also running toward the line up rocket.  She barely has time to wave goodbye :).  Also almost forgets her backpack every morning- kinda funny.  It's cute how much she loves her friends at school.  They all seem to love her too, drawing pictures for her, inviting her to their parties.  So much fun.  She loves Mrs. Piper and she loves being able to write some things already.  She has been wanting to tackle math ever since school started.  Funny girl.  She is pretty tired in the evenings, sometimes she takes an unsolicited nap and then she has a hard time going to sleep.  She will get the hang of things soon I'm sure.  
Molly is loving school as well.  She loves Mrs. Johnson.  She likes her dance class and her soccer team- she got to have most of her friends on her team this year!  So fun!  She has been playing really well also.  She scores at least twice at every game.  She's really good at knowing where to be and where the ball is going to be.  So cool.  She really wants to try gymnastics and she was bummed we couldn't do race cats with everything else on her plate.  We'll see when those things can happen.  She is a good friend as well.  None of her friends live close so it's a little tricky to get them over.  But she loves playing on the computer and riding her bike.  She loves to cook and will make dessert for us almost every Sunday.  Cute girl.  
Jack is adjusting to Junior High.  His favorite classes are Robotics and Manufacturing.  It's challenging school work wise, but he's mastered the friend part.  He really hasn't complained about anything too much and is doing really well.  I like that he spends a lot of time with Erika and her friends and that he feels welcome with them.  He spends every waking minute outside of school with his friends!  They go down in the creek or to each other's houses.  It's been fun to see that side of him growing a lot.  He and Will and Liam are still so close which is just so fun.  He is still not a big eater unless it's tacos.  And he's still the best garbage man we could ask for.  
Erika is doing great at school, loving being the oldest.  She is in Hope Squad which she seems to like.  She is playing soccer right now and totally dominating out on the field.  It's been a really fun season.  She has played goalie a few times which she doesn't love, but she is really good at.  She spends a lot of time in her bedroom, sleeping and with friends.  She still loves the regional dances, she enjoys going to friends' houses.  She has been babysitting a ton.  She is just growing into the coolest big teenage girl.  Rocking the adolescence for sure.  
Noah has been doing really good.  I think it's safe to say that physically he has completely recovered from the stroke.  His brain is still needing some catching up.  But he is handling that so well.  He is doing great in school. He really loves his Photography class and has had fun doing assignments in there.  He has a hard time writing a lot so he is going to switch out of his history class.  Math isn't clicking too well, but I Think he will get there.  He's been so strong and so patient with the challenges.  He loves hanging out with his friends.  They go play volleyball every Thursday night and spike ball over at our park every once in a while too.  He is loving weigh lifting again.  He is gearing up for Indoor track, and totally dominating out on the soccer field!  I've been so impressed with how good he is!  He's really helpful with rides for the younger kids and really helpful around the house which is really nice.  
Luke is all ready for his mission, pretty anxious to get going.  He is not loving HMTC, but doing well at sticking it out.  He loves to eat out and I think that's what's kept him alive through the HMTC.  He is fun to talk to and it's fun to hear his thoughts and the things he's learning.  I can't wait to see what his mission holds.  He really has been getting in some good time with everyone which has been fun to watch.  Football with Molly at the park, playing with Sadie on a walk, watching reels with Kelly and Noah and getting some good last laughs in with them.  It's been fun to see those relationships and know that they will be alive and well when he gets back.  
Bradley is in the city right now, thriving as far as we can tell.  He is in a trio until his comp leaves to go home.  Hopefully it goes well with the other Elder (forgot his name) once Elder Manwaring leaves.  He is baptizing like crazy and having really cool experiences with so many people.  He seems to be enjoying life and enjoying his mission right now.  It's such a relief.  I love hearing from him- we love our video chats.  It's been a cool experience having him out there.  All he can talk about is how excited he is for Luke to get out!
Kelly is living in Provo, going to an EMT class at BYU and working at  Great Harvest.  She seems to be enjoying it all.  She is dating Devan, they just past their year mark.  Things are looking really good for her future.  She hasn't had a lot of luck with the egg retrieval, but she is not losing hope and she is staying positive.  Even with all the crazy hormone levels and ups and downs of the retrieval process. She is a highlight of all our weekends, when we get to see her the girls go nuts :). 
Charity is also living in Provo, she and Kelly are roommates.  She is working at Vivint making big bucks and enjoying dating Hunter.  She has been dealing with her own set of challenges like a champ as well.  I've been really impressed with all that she is doing and how she is handling some of the struggles.  She is so fun to have around- we all love to have her around when she visits as well.  She is also enjoying teaching Relief Society in her ward and wishes she got to do it more often.  
I am doing great!  Just waiting for each stressful thing to end so I can start getting stressed about the next thing :).  Life feels pretty busy lately, hopefully it will slow down a little hear for October.  The calendar says it will, we shall see.  I am liking my little part time gig at the popcorn store- it's been a fun change of pace.  I think I'm starting to get the hang of it.  It's been a slow process learning everything. I am the secretary in the Primary Presidency and just got done writing and pulling off our Primary Program.  I think it went really well.  I will get there though.  I need to tackle a few projects in the house here real soon, so I'm looking forward to that, but mostly life is good and I am getting by!  
Nate is doing awesome.  Awesome for his family at least :).  We are so grateful for his hard work and all that he sacrifices and does to make our family work.  He is so good to us!  He has been working his butt off selling meat, directing air traffic, and laying in the beds at the plasma donation center, selling his soul :).  I'm totally kidding.  He is still in the Bishopric, working hard with that as well.  He's just awesome.  We are so lucky to have him.  
9-28-24

GRANDMA RUTHIE AND JEN'S BIRTHDAY BASH
We had so much fun at Fish Hook Park celebrating Grandma and Jen.  It was a little tricky with the tables being so far away from the playground and stuff, but everyone seemed to enjoy the night once we got going.  There was too much drama with Sadie on the way there she tipped over her fun dip and then Noah wouldn't be her ketchup holder as she ate her Wendy's, so she decided to take a nap.  Then when we got there she realized that she never put her scooter in the car.  That was pretty devastating until grandma mentioned the duckies hid all over the park!  They all went on the search.  Noah and Luke took turns with Sadie.  They got ducks and a couple Chick-fil-a gift cards!  The girls played on the playground a bit and then the rest of us (Me, Charity, Hunter, Kelly, Devan, Elder Maynes, Noah, Jack for part of it, and Molly for part of it) got way into a game of Volleyball with the Taylors.  We played for a good hour and a half!  Good stuff.  I saw Sadie following a new friend around.  It was a fun night!  9-28-24

CHURCH WITH OUR MISSIONARY
Luke is a set apart Elder right now, so he was not really sure how to do church.  He was supposed to have a companion with him at all times and I am in the Primary so I did offer to let him come in there, but he chose Sunday School and asked Andy if he could sit by him.  That was fine until we needed Andy to help fill in in the Sunbeam class- HAHA!  So Luke was sitting by himself for his first Sunday as a set apart missionary.  Maybe not noteworthy, but he was funny about it.  We enjoyed Austin Noriega hour too.  9-29-24

LETTER FROM BRAD- MORNIN
Heyyyy guys whats up. This week was super hype but also kind of a huge bummerr. My comp ends his mission today and he actually worked pretty hard all the way to the end but it's so weird to see someone ending the mission because I didn't even think it happened. Still not sure I'll ever get to that point but its such a weird feeling watching someone finish. Hes gone through so many emotions so fast and like now he's just done yk? Like all of this work for 2 years and then it just stops. Super strange buttt I've still got lots of time to continue the work here. Super excited to lead out this are because it literally has so much potential and there's just so much to do here. Super fun area. 

This week we worked super hard but saw soooo much opposition. It was actually a very patience testing week. There were some days this week that almost made us just call it quits haha. But we finished strong. 

Sunday there was a baptism for this family I found on divisiones and they asked me to baptize their kid. The only problem is they told him the water would be warm and it definitely wasn't. The water heater stopped working so it was ice cold and we had to spend like 25 minutes to get him to get in the water. While i was just freezing to death waiting for him the whole time. But he was able to do it and definitely wont forget his baptism when he got baptized in ice hahaha. 

We got transfer news and I'm training my new comp still, Elder Baltazar but I'm also now training a new ZL. Gonna be a super fun transfer getting everything done. We shall see how it goes. 

This is gonna be a short email buttt I love all you guys. This work is the most important work in the entire world and I'm excited to be part of it. I'm excited my brother is also a part of it now and will get to experience the blessings of Christ's love. It truly is a great work and the most we can get involved wether we're missionaries or not, the more blessed and filled we will be. 

TIME WITH LUKE
Luke and I were getting in the last few things we needed to do this week before he leaves.  Monday we made sure to go to Moe's for lunch :).  This was his last time eating the stack thing he loves.  We'll see if he misses it :).  So far we are 0 for 2 on watch choices.  We will need to try something else.   He had less time in class today so we got to see his face and even had fhe with him. 9-30-24

FHE
We talked about Luke for our lesson- I think he was okay with that. We had Molly's brownies for the treat and played Anomia for Luke's game.  9-30-24

AUGUST 2024

 DATE NIGHT

After cleaning up from camping and getting everything off the trailer, Nate and I snuck away for a date.  We shook things up by going to a movie first and then dinner.  We went and saw Trap, which was interesting.  I'm not sure if I liked it or not.  It was entertaining, but just kind of weird.  Unsettling with how it ends too.  And then we went and got sushi after.  So yummy. 8-2-24

BUSY SATURDAY
I got up early for some reason and sat down to work on some Primary stuff and didn't get off the couch for quite a while.  I'm still collecting people's kids' parts for the program and I had a few other things to work on.  I'm finding this to be a pretty time consuming calling.  So far.  I will get in a groove and won't have to do so much soon I think.  Not til the new year.  But Nate went and donated plasma, then came home and finished the Maughan's meat.  I got the food for Marianne's salad and rice krispie treats, and made those.  Then Nate had four baptisms to conduct.  We then piled everyone in the car and went to run some errands!  We picked up a table in Layton for Charity and Kelly to use in their new house.  Then on to finishing the school shopping!  Walked through the mall and then through Walmart.  That was about all we could take.  Still need to find some shorts for Erika, but we did pretty good getting Jack's clothes, shoes, Molly's backpack, and Erika's backpack.  We did it!  Now it's time to watch some reels with Kelly and pretend like we're going to do something fun later until the night is over and we've done nothing :).  8-3-24

PHONE CALL WITH BRAD
Brad was a little off this week.  Said he got cooked this week.  He didn't have much else to say about the week, which was kind of sad.  He was eating Little Caesar's Pizza heated up on his sandwich maker and then they got their food from their pension which he disappointedly announced was tuna and rice again.  Kind of a downer.  He got pretty spoiled with eating out every night in Moqugua, but he's toughing it out this week.  We told him a lot about our camping trip and all the fishing, I hope that wasn't too homesickening for him.  Ya gotta have the down days to appreciate the good ones, so I think there's hope for him.  He did say that they baptized a guy they met on his second day in the area, so that was cool.  We're so proud of him!  I hope he can have a better week coming up.  8-4-24

LETTER FROM BRAD- [four zipped lips emojis]

I am not writing an email this week I apologize. I should but here's some pictures from this week. Next week will be better

8-5-24

FISHING AND UPTOWN JUNGLE
Nate and the boys settled on a plan B to their backpacking plans in order to accommodate Noah.  They are just going to go on day trips each day this week.  They went down south, Provo river I believe, on Monday.  They didn't have as much luck with the fishing as they wanted.  But they had a good time.  While they were gone- we had to do something fun, so we went down to Sandy for Uptown Jungle with our Get Out Passes.  It was kind of funny because on the way there I thought about Wendy and that she lives around there and has Get Out Passes, so I quickly texted her and surprisingly, she met up with us!  So I got to sit and talk with her while Erika, Molly and Sadie played!  We have a lot in common when it comes to how we do callings and how we want other people to do callings.  Kind of funny.  She was kind enough to listen and be interested in the stroke details.  It was so nice.  Kind of a cool little outing.  We had to stop at Cold Stone on our way home :).  8-5-24

FHE
Luke was the lesson and taught us about repentance using a backpack and some weights.  Molly was the guinea pig and she told us how heavy it was with all the weights in there.  It was a cool lesson!  I love it when Luke teaches.  We played Chameleon a few rounds for Noah's game and then went to Taco Time for churros for Erika's treat.  This was a great FHE, it's been a while since it felt this normal.  8-5-24

PEANUT BUTTER
We shipped some peanut butter to Brad today.  It cost way too much! HAHA!  I was only able to send three squeeze packs.  Kind of sad.  But maybe again in a couple weeks!  I hope he gets it.  8-6-24

NOAH PT
Noah had his first PT appointment today.  With Maddie.  He did really well.  She just had a bunch of exercises for him to do to strengthen his right leg.  I am hopeful that this will do the trick!  Soccer starts soon so I'm hoping he can actually start.  We'll see.  He seemed optimistic as well.  8-6-24

TEMPLE BAPTISMS
The boys all wanted to get in one more day of fishing this week, so we had to cancel my 10:00 appointment at the Layton Temple and decided we'd just walk in at the Bountiful temple later in the day.  This ended up being really awesome.  I got to go!  They had us sit down because we were walk ins but as soon as a woman and her daughter came in and said they didn't have someone to baptize, we were in!  It was really cool to have the thought, "You can't go to Layton temple at 10:00, that's okay, I need you at the Bountiful temple at 3:30 anyway :). It's really okay and I'm just happy you're here."  I love the temple.  I love my Heavenly Father and that He is with me.  It was super special to see the kids baptizing each other.  Luke did the girl we don't know- super cute with her- she seemed to have some kind of disability (again with Luke) and he was just so sweet with her.  So gentle and worked with how she needed to hold on and hold her nose, he's just so awesome.  Then Noah got in and baptized Luke (Noah wasn't feeling like being baptized, with the way his head feels when he tips it back.  But so cool that he stayed in there and baptized Erika.  It's just such a miracle that he can raise his right arm, read the prompter- weird names and all- and then baptize someone.  Three weeks ago he couldn't walk, talk or raise his right arm very well and now here we are.  Such a blessing.  I got to witness Luke doing confirmations too which was way cool.  We stopped at Great Harvest on the way home.  Good stuff.  8-9-24

DATE NIGHT
We just did a quick date and went to Slap Fish.  So yummy and so nice to finally spend some time together.  8-9-24

SANDY BALLOON FESTIVAL

This was a big day!  Kind of a long day!  But we managed to squeak some fun out of it.  We got up at the crack of dawn and went to see the balloons at Storm Mountain Park.  Charity and Hunter met up with us.  It was way too windy to let them up but a few of them inflated and that was fun :).  We have a joke that if Nate is there they don't launch- so far- it's true :).  But we were glad he was with us.  We came home and everyone kind of just chilled all day.  I turned on Night Crossing to watch and fell asleep within the first few minutes- duh.  I actually ended up sleeping for almost six hours!!  Some much needed rest I think.  With the exception of Erika going to Cherry Hill, everyone did pretty much the same thing.  Kelly, Luke and Noah went shopping later in the day and then at 6:00 we started getting ready to go to the Balloon Festival again.  We've never tried this part of the festival, but I wanted to give it a shot this time.  I think it was an okay rough draft.  Next time, I would go right at 7:00, get in line for the twisted balloons, face paint and caricatures and THEN get food.  We did it backwards and they cut off the lines before we could do any of the free stuff!  So that was a huge bummer.  We went over and paid too much for playing on the inflatables- Jack, Molly and Sadie.  Then went back over to the balloons to get some pictures of "the glow".  It was cool, but would have been better if they'd had more balloons.  We spent some more time in line for Dole Whips and then watched the drone show.  It was fun enough, but I wish we would have known all the ins and outs.  Now we do.  I loved that EVERYONE came!  I mean minus Nate, but even Charity and Hunter joined us.  We did have some fun.  8-10-24

FAMILY MEETING
We were 15 minutes early to the meeting thanks to the new route I learned to take :).  We got to visit with Grandma a little before.  I thought this was a really good meeting.  We spent some time talking about miracles we've seen lately in our own lives.  I loved hearing everyone's stories and I loved the way it felt.  We got to hear about FSY from all the kids who went.  Kelly got to talk about her time this summer.  Nancy and Grandma talked about some of the miracles on their cruise.  Ashlyn talked about some of the miracles she's seen with her tumor/treatments/remission.  It was really short and really sweet.  There was lots of time to sit and visit afterwards too.  So nice!!  We headed home when Brad called.  8-11-24

BRAD'S PHONE CALL
He's been calling a little later lately, today he called at about 8:30.  We finished up at Grandma's and then headed out when he called.  It's always a little tricky to talk to him in the car.  Sadie kept interrupting as well, which was a bummer, but it was nice to hear how he is doing.  It's been kind of rough lately.  He seems mostly happy, but his comp is a little trunky so there's a lot of talk of going home.  Hopefully he can get a companion who is ready to really get busy and work hard when transfers come.  He hit his year mark on the 7th!  8-11-24

ALTITUDE
We needed to get out Monday, so we chose Altitude from our Get Out Passes.  This ended up being pretty fun!  I was able to talk Jack into jumping, he, Molly, Sadie and Erika all ran around having fun for an hour and Kelly and I watched :).  This is the place Sadie broke her leg at back in January of 2023.  She did great though!  I was cringing about all the adults jumping on trampolines with their kids.  They really should make a rule about that.  They seemed like they had fun though!  So that was good!  We came home to the BIGGEST, COOLEST, MOST EXCITING Storm EVER!!  Big huge hail, so much rain! really cool thunder!!  So fun!!  It ended pretty quickly which was crazy!  8-12-24

FHE
I was the lesson.  We talked about the Head Shoulders Knees and Toes (eyes ears mouth and nose) of going to school and making new friends!  I was happy I had this idea the other day.  We played three rounds of Secret Hitler for Kelly's game and had drumsticks for Luke's treat.  8-12-24

ALL THE BACK TO SCHOOL MEETINGS
We had a lot of little things Tuesday, Hope Squad meeting, Erika went to her back to school night, Jack passed.  Then the Elementary school back to school night- kinda ran around getting too much information and signing up for too many things, but it feels like school is starting!  Whether we want it to or not.  8-13-24

FATHER'S BLESSINGS

I was really happy we were able to do Father's Blessings Wednesday evening.  It ended up being a really sweet evening with all the kids.  Luke got to stand with Nate and then gave Nate a blessing at the end.  It was really cool.  I am loving all the new things that these Pre-missionaries get to let us experience with them.  We didn't follow any kind of order, let everyone pick the next person, kinda fun.  I loved hearing all the things that everyone was blessed with and being able to feel each of their spirits as they sat there.  Such a beautiful thing to have this power in our home and I'm so grateful Nate is worthy to do this.  Bring on the school year!  8-14-24

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL
We had the morning planned out, everyone was getting up way too early, but it really helped with having things run smoothly.  I got up at 5:00, read my scriptures, worked out, made lunches and breakfast, and we actually got everyone out the door on time!  

Noah got a ride with his friend, so we just snapped a quick pic inside before he left.  He is starting his Junior year!  Crazy stuff.  He is looking forward to his commercial photography class and Sports Psych.  I'm hoping he will have th energy to support his desire to have a normal year despite his challenges with his mobility and brain functioning.  He's a tough kid, hopefully he can pull it off.  
Erika and Jack are at the Junior High together this year!  Erika in 9th, she's excited for second term when she and Kate are in the office together.  Even though Terrie isn't here anymore.  She is also excited to be the oldest in the school and varsity for the sports.  Gonna be good!  This year counts, so hopefully she makes it count!
Jack is in 7th.  He is confident that he will do just fine.  Very excited for his science classes and Robotics!  He is so chill, I think he will do great.  I'm glad he has Erika when he needs her, but he really is going to do great!
Molly is in 3rd grade.  She got Mrs. Johnson- yay!  She is excited for cursive and business days- hopefully they still do those.  She was quick to get ready that morning and so happy to show her little sister around.  She's the big sis now in the Elementary school!
Sadie is in Kindergarten!  She got Mrs. Piper of course, which we were happy about.  She is very excited and seems to be taking everything in stride.  She was so exhausted these first few days, and at times more grumpy than usual, but she has done great!  I'm so proud of her!  Mrs. Piper said that she has expressed an interest in learning math.  Even though they've learned numbers and patterns, she's still telling her they need to learn math :).  Funny girl.  She wants to show off her 2+3=5 skills.  HA! 

I managed to survive my first day :).  It actually felt so short- I washed the mountain of dishes and then went to lunch with my dad and it was time to go get them, so... but there's still time to experience an empty house.  We'll get there.  2024-2025 school year- here we come!   8-15-24

PRIMARY ICE CREAM TRUCK
I got to participate in the Back to School Ice Cream Truck this year.  Kinda fun!  We met up at Kris's and loaded up Suzanne's son's truck.  I was chosen to sit in the bed and pass out the ice creams from the coolers.  So I was riding in the truck sitting on a cooler the whole time.  Wearing green heart glasses.  Fun stuff.  The downside- we took WAY longer than I thought we would and I missed taking the girls to soccer practice.  Broke some hearts, but they toughed it out.  I felt so bad.   8-15-24

KELLY EGG CYCLE

We've started another cycle for Kelly.  Very exciting.  We'll see how it goes.  8-16-24

DATE NIGHT/SURPRISE MOVIE NIGHT!
Nate and I went to Applebee's on our date this week and it was a nice little regroup.  We sat there longer than usual, Nate was eating really slowly, which was funny, and I didn't say anything because we were having a nice time talking and then suddenly Nate got a call from Kelly saying that she needed us home right away, everyone was fighting.  So the whole drive home I thought it was really weird that they were having problems and texted Kelly about it.  She made some stuff up and I shared my opinions and then when we got home I was surprised with a sign on the door saying that it was a movie theater!  Then Sadie greeted us with Movie tickets and we were escorted downstairs to the family room where they had covered the couches in blankets and set up a treat station on the bench in front of the fireplace.  Charity and Hunter were here!  Fun surprise!  Lots of popcorn, drinks and candy.  It was so cute!  I felt so special!!  It was so fun of them!  We watched Top Gun Maverick and I quoted everything to my heart's content :).  Fun memories!  8-16-24

PICKLEBALL SATURDAY MORNING
This was a fun little impromptu hang out.  We went over to Baseball park and played pickleball.  We couldn't get everyone to join in and some were not having a good time.  Poor Noah found out that pickleball is not one of his regained skills yet.  That was hard.  But Nate, Luke, Kelly, and I all played a bunch.  Erika too.  It was fun.  We had a good time.  8-17--24

TEMPLE WITH MY MOM
I had scheduled a temple date for Nate and I and then he found out he didn't have a recommend so I last minute invited my mom to come with me.  It was the newly shortened endowment session.  I have to say I love it!  I don't feel like I'm missing anything at all.  It was nice to hang out with my mom too.  8-17-24

BRAD'S PHONE CALL
We got to talk to Brad tonight.  He was so distracted, it was hard to keep the conversation going,  But we just love seeing him and knowing he's happy.  He did find out transfers while we were talking to him and he announced that he and Elder Manwaring will be sticking together another transfer.  8-18-24

RELIEF SOCIETY NIGHT
I went to this even though I didn't feel like going.  It ended up being a lot of fun for the short time I was there.  It was in Lindsey Cutler's backyard.  We all ended up in a big circle.  They passed around some questions, we all went around answering our question.  Some of them were fun, some seriously.  I gave Barbara the extra one I had and she actually answered it.  It was a funny one, "Are you planning on getting married any time soon?"  She's funny.  I got the question, "Is there a small thing you could do now that would cause a big change later?" I talked about possibly starting school.  Everyone kept talking to me and referencing what I said, which was weird, but it was a fun night.  I had to get up and go pick up Noah from soccer practice before it was over, but it was a good time.  8-20-24

HOPE SQUAD- ERIKA

Erika had her first Hope Squad meeting this week.  Sounds like she's going to have some fun in there.  I'm proud of her for being nominated and that she is willing to sacrifice the time for it.  Getting to school earlier on a late start day is a big deal!  8-21-24

SHERRY FACETIME
Sherry and I got to facetime again this week.  That was nice.  We have to set a timer so we don't talk too long.  Still a great recharge though!  8-23-24

WATCHING BEA
Lisa and Gary were taking Corbin to his birth mom's wedding in Las Vegas so they farmed out all their kids to different houses.  Bea chose to come to ours!  She was so quiet and we almost forgot she was here sometimes :).  But I think she had a little fun with us.  8-23-24

DATE WITH CHARITY
We had to kind of squeeze this date in, but I was so glad we made it work!  She made some time for me in between work and a wedding.  I drove down there, got to see her new house in Provo and then we headed over to Provo's Fiiz, whatever it was, I can't remember.  We tried some new flavors and a Scotcheroo that was really really dense.  Seemed different than ours.  Same flavor tho.  It was so nice to be with Charity.  She is fun to talk to and fun to be with.  I'm excited for her life ahead and I feel like she is going to do great things!!  Love that girl!  I had to hurry home for my date with Nate :).  8-23-24

DATE NIGHT

I think this was the night we went to the Habit and then to see a movie, I'm not sure which one it was.  We love our date nights though!  8-23-24

FIRST SOCCER GAMES OF THE SEASON
We rushed around to soccer games- Noah didn't play his, he's still not soccering yet, but the girls had theirs.  They both did awesome!  Molly got like four goals!  Same with Erika!  It was a fun day for soccer.  8-24-24

JACK'S FAMILY PARTY- ECHO RESERVOIR
Jack's party didn't quite go as planned this year.  We were supposed to go to Pineview and then thanks to E. Coli it evolved into going to Echo reservoir in insane wind in the evening, trying not to blow away the entire time!!  Nobody felt like getting out on the paddleboards, some of the girls went out in the water, but it was kind of a bust.  I was bummed, but Jack was positive about it and seemed to make the most of it.  We did have plenty of snacks which was fun.  Steve even came!! Nate took the day off so we got to have him there on a Saturday night. Charity and Hunter and Kelly were all there.  Grandma and Simon joined us after a while.  It was a fun time together.  Jack got a few gifts and was happy with the stack of rice krispie treats I made :).  All was well.  8-24-24

JACK'S ACTUAL BIRTHDAY
I feel so weird about Jack's birthday this year, but one thing we did right was the "12 hours of his birthday".  I am so happy I started this tradition.  It's been so fun.  Jack loved it.  He was very polite and didn't nag me when I was a little late.  But he got lots of fun little gifts and goodies.  Having your birthday on Sunday can be a bummer, but he made the most of it.  He did get to talk to Brad on his birthday!  And he got lots of presents!  

ERIKA'S CELLO TRIO
Erika finally got to perform the song she's been working on for weeks!  She, Kate Cutler and Addie Allred played Child's Prayer in a cello trio!  It was SO beautiful!!  I loved it!  She did amazing.  It was fun that Charity and Grandma and Simon made it for the performance.  8-24-24

JOB INTERVIEW DAY
So this is a weird thing I didn't see coming.  For some reason I felt this urgency to get a job and find a way to help with the income.  So I put a resume up on Indeed and started really looking.  I was able to apply at a few places.  I ended up having two interviews in one day- one with Lisa's Popcorn and one with Ministering Angels (a home health company).  I felt like they both went well.  It was strange to be doing job interviews for the first time in 22 years.  Kinda crazy.  8-27-24

YOUTH ACTIVITIES
While the big kids are gone to youth activities, the little girls and I try to get out and play like little girls.  Kelly is here so she came with us!  We went to Barnes park and I loved watching Molly and Kelly play catch with the lacrosse sticks.  Molly is getting pretty good.  She might have a future in Lacrosse!  Sadie made a new friend :).  8-28-24

BOWLING DATE WITH KELLY
This was a fun new idea!  Kelly suggested we go bowling!  We had so much fun!  I was afraid my hurt foot was going to get in the way, but I actually did fine and even won.  Had to say it, sorry Kelz :).  Very memorable.  8-30-24

MOLLY'S FAMILY PARTY
This was a fun party for Molly!  She wanted to go swimming at the Rec Center, so we had a little pizza lunch at the Bountiful park pavilion beforehand.  It was so fun that Meg and her family came as well as Steve, Grandma Ruthie, Jen, Grandma Hatch, Simon, and Grandpa Hatch showed up after all the fun.  WE had a great time though!  Everyone goofed around and ate food and then the little people all went inside and swam for quite a while!  Molly was in heaven!  I think she loved her gifts and had a fun time.  8-31-24

JULY 2024

 KIDS CAMP- MOLLY and SADIE
Kenzie's big sister did a cute little Olympic themed, kids camp this week.  Molly got to go on Monday.  It was kind of funny because I spaced what time it was and looked at the clock at 8:55.  Molly had five minutes to wake up and get ready and go.  I rushed that little girl like crazy- she wasn't happy with me.  We got her there at 9:15!  I was pretty bummed that she was late, but we moved on.  Then it came time to pick her up, I had set my alarm for 11:25, thinking it ended at 11:30 but luckily I looked at my phone and the flyer again and realized it actually ended at 11:00!!  I hurried and texted Jessica, she was fine with it, but I felt kinda flaky.  Fast forward to Tuesday, it was Sadie's turn.  This time, I was a little more ready, she was up and excited to go and then I looked at the flyer one. last. time and here's the fun surprise.  It actually started at 9:30!!  On Molly's day too.  So oddly enough- I had taken Molly 15 minutes early and then picked her up 15 minutes late! HA!  Molly doesn't love that I did that, but I think it's pretty me like, so we're good :).  They had so much fun!  Balloon tennis, obstacle course- "we climbed up the rock wall and then went down the slide on their treehouse and then we jumped over the little pool noodles cuz they were arched and it was like hurdles, and then we got frisbees to throw in a hula hoop and we got three tries and had to get one of them in, and then bean bag toss with little torches and we brought them to little baskets, there's this little paper Maddie traced and we glued little tissues onto them."  They both sounded like they had so much fun!  7-1-24--7-2-24

FHE- Movie Dinner- Emperor's New Groove
For family night we did a movie dinner to shake things up.  We did Emperor's New Groove this time!  It ended up being so much fun!  We had Spinach Puffs, "Is everything on this menu swimming in gravy" beef tips, "pill bugs" (gummy worms), "Hit him on the head" broccoli, Cuzco's poison.  Everyone loved the Spinach puffs, we'll be having them again!  This was a success.  7-1-24

DATE WITH JACK
Jack chose to just go to lunch for our date and chose Wendy's!  We went and had a nice lunch and got to talk a lot.  Mostly about 7th grade coming up, which was fun.  Then while we were talking we got on the subject of Legos (I had told him he should get a lego set instead of the wood jets at the air show, thinking they would have military aircraft lego sets, which they apparently do not, but Jack was fine with just finding something else)  so we finished off our date with a trip to the Lego Store so Jack could spend his hard earned money on a Space Ship set.  It was actually really cool and good size for how much it cost.  We had a lot of fun.  He's a fun kid to be with.  7-2-24

ERIKA DENTIST
This was a rough visit for Erika.  She got a bunch of fillings.  One more visit to go.  7-3-24

DATE WITH MOLLY
Molly and I got to go on our date on Wednesday.  We went to the movie Despicable Me 4!  We got a big ol' thing of popcorn that Molly regulated :).  And we almost ate the whole thing.  It was a lot of fun.  I liked seeing Molly smiling at all the funny parts.  Cute movie with a super cute girl.  7-3-24

4th OF JULY!!!
We had an awesome 4th of July this year!  I loved it!!  Erika and I got up early to get her to the 5K to warm up.  We were pretty early so we stood around waiting for it to start.  Finally Kate showed up and we were able to talk with her and Emily and they warmed up together.  Erika did a great job!  I was happy she was able to have fun with it.  Her knees weren't even hurting which was awesome too!  Good job Erika!!  

After the 5K, we raced home to get ready for the parade.  When we got home NOBODY was awake!!  So kind of a mad dash to wake everyone, get them ready and go.  I like to get there early rather than set out chairs/blankets to save seats.  Our spot is never taken :).  I mentioned that it would have been fun to have some cards to play with and Jack had the brilliant idea to run home and get his!  So I let him!  He came back with his rip stick and Erika's cards and we never even touched them after that :).  But Jack felt pretty awesome I think.  The Maughans showed up about the same time as Jack.  The parade was a lot of fun.  I realized while I was watching it that I don't really care what they have in the parade or how much candy the kids get (Travis was mentioning other parades that do more and are better) but I realized, I just don't really care about any of that.  I like seeing OUR parade.  It's our tradition.  That's why I like it.  I'm not picky about how it is.  I love the military people that come through, that we get to stand up for the flag and for them.  I love the school bands and color guards and cheer squads (kinda).  I love thinking about how much I love this country and am so grateful for the blessings we have here.  I like seeing a whole community together and enjoying something all together.  And I LOVE the firetruck pics I get each year.  I couldn't get Luke to go stand with everyone, but that's okay.  And they did do anything real loud which was interesting.  But I loved it all :).  I also love watching my kids helping little kids get candy, stealing frisbees from short adults (Erika is so awesome), and being kids even when they are usually too cool for that.  It's just the best.  I'm happy with how it is.  And I'm happy I was able to realize that.  We got in our car, parked right behind us, and drove off right away with out any delay- kinda cool :).  I love our spot!

After the parade we came home and sat.  It was kinda nice.  Jack had chosen to ride his rip stick home too, which was fun!  I had to get all the salads ready for our barbecue.  We ended up cleaning up a little and got things all ready for our barbecue at 5:00.  Charity and Hunter showed up and we had a nice little dinner.  Molly made our flag fruit tray, I did Ramen salad and pasta salad that nobody ate.  Nate made pulled pork and we had Charity's watermelon and chocolate chip cookies.  So fun!!  The kids all ate out on the basketball court which was fun.  

After dinner we went over to Barnes Park for the pre-firework fun.  We bumped the volleyball around for a while, then the kids played Spike Ball, we got to play a few rounds of Anomia- Charity loves that game, we talked quite a bit- I got to have a long convo with Charity which was nice.  Jack was practicing jumping over the camp chairs :).  The Maughans showed up and everyone had fun doing all the fun stuff with them.  Nate spoiled us all with cotton candy and light sabers for the little girls.  It was so fun to have Nate with us for the fireworks.  He had worked all day so he didn't get to do the rest of the day.  The fireworks were amazing!  Sadie had Charity covering her ears for the first part and then began enjoying it thanks to Nate's fun antics.  It was a fun night.  We ended up just playing around for about an hour after, til the traffic started to move and then got right out of there.  We were exhausted when we got home, but had so much fun.  Happy birthday, America!!  7-4-24

DATE NIGHT
We went to Slapfish again :).  My choice.  And then to see the movie Fly Me to the Moon.  I really liked the movie, but I don't know why- HAHA!  It was entertaining.  It left me questioning the controversy of faking the moon landing more than confirming it for me.  But that's okay.  I don't really care.  But it was a fun movie.  7-5-24

BAPTISM- MILO WIBERG
Nate and I both got to go to Milo's baptism together.  Nate conducts the ward baptisms and now that I am in the primary I feel like that's the green light to go to the baptisms :).  I love baptisms.  The Spirit just washes over the whole room as they are dunked!  So cool!  I loved the talk about treasures and putting them in a cute box was so fun.  And I got to sit with Nate for a minute.  And visit with Kris Pederson.  Kinda fun.  During his confirmation the word "receive" really stuck out to me.  We really do have to "receive the gift of the Holy Ghost".  It's not something that is just put upon us.  We have to choose.  And I believe that choice is not just made in that moment when we are confirmed.  It is a daily choice to have the Holy Ghost as our constant companion.  Then in the blessing his dad said the word, "recognize" and I loved thinking about how important it is to recognize the Spirit in our lives.  I want to get better at pointing those times out to my kids too.  So cool.  7-6-24

SATURDAY EVENING ROAD TRIP
We were going to go pick up Kelly (she was working in South Carolina) at the airport at 9:00 so my joke of taking some of my leftover salad to Becky became a reality.  Along with some of Nate's meatballs and mashed potatoes.  But it did end up going slightly different than I had planned.  I ended up talking on the phone to Steve much later than anticipated and we didn't get out the door til 8:10!!  But it was going to be okay since Kelly's flight was supposed to be late, so we made it work.  Just shortened our visit with Becky a little and then headed over to the airport.  This is when it became a road trip!  We were driving around, in circles basically, at the airport for almost an hour and a half!  So crazy!  I had no idea just how late her plane was and then they had even more issues when they landed, so even longer.  But it was fine- Jack, Molly, Sadie and I kept ourselves pretty entertained considering the circumstances.  It was almost fun.  The joy that fills the car when Kelly gets in is amazing though.   So cute how much everyone loves Kelly.    She's such a fun sister.  We're glad we get to have her here for about 18 hours!  HA!  7-6-24

PRIMARY
I'm still getting in a groove with Primary- trying to figure out how I want to do everything, ,but it is still taking me the entire time to get things done.  Kinda crazy.  I just run around the entire time.  I feel a little disruptive and wish I could just sit and enjoy the kids, but I'm sure things will get better as I get the hang of it.  7-7-24

GOODBYE KELLY, AGAIN
I got to drive Kelly back to BYU after church.  She has one more week there and then a week off.  We're all a little nervous for how her week at BYU will go since her first one was the worst one of the summer.  Hopefully it's better.  She had a coworker who needed a ride up to Weber, so we volunteered.  Thankfully Erika was with me, but we talked to Sam all the way there.  Even though his voice was gone- oops.  It was nice to spend the time with Erika too.  We'll be counting down the days til we get to see Kelly again.  7-7-24

PHONE CALL WITH BRAD
This was a fun phone call.  Brad was anticipating his transfer news for the first half of the call and then distracted by the news for the rest :) HA!  So cute.  He is getting transferred to a place called Umacollo in Arequipa on Wednesday.  He is being made ZL as well.  We're excited for him.  He sounded pretty pumped too.  He's going to be sad to say goodbye to Moquegua and the members and friends there, but he knows "that's the mission".  So he's toughing it out. He's happy with who will be taking over his area.  I'm really proud of him and his positive attitude.  He will be with a "gringo" so his Spanish is "not going to get any better".  But he sounded really excited about the transfer for the most part.  We all got a good laugh at Molly's filters- she was being so funny.  Glad to see her smile.  7-7-24

NOT A GOOD DAY
We were supposed to have a combined party for Alyssa and Sadie today.  A couple weeks ago we solidified plans for a party at the splash pad (Heidi was not wanting to spend money to go swimming like Sadie wanted).  It was a simple party, Sarah and the grandparents would be there though, so it was going to be fun.  Then the night before Heidi magically had passes to the rec center so she started a text to me and Sarah about going there.   I had already planned a different swiming party for Sadie later in the week.  I really didn't want to spend another $50 to go to the rec center- it's not my favorite.  So I said it wasn't really in our budget.  So they just scooted us out of the picture, said lets just meet at the park for food (which was funny because the whole reason I had picked the 4:00 start time for the splash pad was because I didn't want to have to do food), but whatever, dinner and cake is what Heidi's text said.  Heidi had just taken the whole thing over.  I was having pretty bad cramps all day Sunday and all night- couldn't sleep at all- and they were taking over Monday as well.  Nothing was helping it was so crazy.  I don't think I've had it that bad in a long time.  So I was not really in the mood to be with people anyway.  I ended up canceling and said we weren't gonig to make it and of course Heidi's response is , "did you already make the cupcakes? I can come pick them up" Like she's doing me a favor.  Little brat.  But anyway.  Super annoying day- telling Sadie the plans were cancelled.  It was nice of Sarah to come over and spend some time with us after swimming.  Hopefully the rest of their visit goes okay.  7-8-24

SADIE'S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATING
We realized that if Nate and the kids left midday on Sadie's birthday, they would be able to squeeze in another backpacking trip.  So we kind of shifted Sadie's birthday back, to start at noonish on Wednesday the 10th instead :).  We took everyone swimming at Farmington pool for her fun activity.  Grandma Hatch came too!  This was fun.  Then we came home, had our Primary activity, and then back home for a "family party" for her!  Charity and Hunter came for the party along with Grandma and Simon.  It was a nice time.  We had sliders (I tried the big sheet pan of different sandwich combos- worked really well!) and fruit and chips.  I think Sadie had a good time :).  She has had some pretty high expectations for her birthday and we didn't deliver on some of them, but she's handled it all pretty well.  I've been proud of her.  She got lots of fun presents from Grandma and Charity.  Decked out her whole bike!  After that we had a movie night.  Then Thursday, bright and early (after Dad had all the backpacking stuff situated) we gave Sadie her gift from us!  We gave her a trip to Build-A-Bear!  She was so excited and I don't even think she knew where she was going.  It was pretty cute.  She picked a cute chameleon (after deciding against the Pikachu).  She was adorable filling it up with stuffing and picking out the fold out bed and shirt for it.  Also a stuffed pickleball/paddle.  Kinda funny.  After build-a-bear we stopped at 7-11 for our free slurpees!  So fun!!  Then it was time to say goodbye to the kids and Nate.  I didn't want Sadie's birthday to end there though and it was just she and I, so I treated it a little like a Yes day and kind of let her call all the shots.  We went to Walmart to get her much anticipated booster seat!  She was BEYOND excited to get a booster seat when she turned five.  I'm not even sure where she heard that that was a thing.  She got to pick out a new backpack and some shoes for when school starts too.  She was very easy going about everything she picked.  I hope she actually likes it all.  After Walmart she wanted to get some lunch at Carls Jr.  So we did that :).  We were a little tired after lunch so we came home for a little quiet time watching a movie.  She actually just let us chill for quite a while.  We did go on a walk and to Ponds Park for a minute.  It was SO HOT this week it was hard to get out and do much.  As we were watching the movie, she asked if we could go to a movie, so we did!  We went and saw Despicable Me 4.  That was a lot of fun.  We came home and had our grilled cheese sandwiches that she requested the night before and then went on a walk to Ponds Park.  It was a good day.  I think she was good and spoiled.  I loved having her so happy all day.  We had to come down from the birthday high on Friday, but I think it was worth it.  7-10-24--7-11-24

FRIDAY
Friday was meh.  Sadie was not happy with all my no's and there wasn't anything really exciting on the agenda.  She did get to go over to Owen's while I went to Gloria Ferguson's funeral.  But she kept asking if I would take her somewhere.  She really just wanted to be driving around in her booster seat all weekend.  We went to Barnes Park for a minute and she overheard a mom suggesting to her daughter that they go to the gas station and get a treat and about five minutes later Sadie came over with a great idea- let's go to a gas station and get a treat!  She had no idea what a gas station was, we went to the Maverik right there, so pretty close- she asked why we didn't just walk HA!  I suggested that she could get a cooler treat if we just went to a grocery store and she liked that idea, so we did that instead.  She picked out TicTacs.  There were lots of walks, movies and tantrums.  We had to hit Carls Jr. one more time for dinner after grabbing me a CafeRio salad.  Sadie was so talkative and so much fun to be with.  Love that little girl.  7-12-24

GLORIA'S FUNERAL
I LOVED Gloria's funeral.  It was so perfect.  She really was an amazing lady.  I wish I'd known her better.  But I did love hearing all about her.  She was a very determined person.  Kept commitments and set goals.  I loved the lessons her grandkids talked about.  She sounded like a really fun grandma.  I loved hearing about how she was for the YW in Africa.  She would have been such a fun YW leader.  I really loved the messages from Shawn and Kiera- they did a great job and shared fun stories.  Ike's talk was fun too- he talked a lot about marriage and how to take care of a spouse.  I loved his talk.  He's amazing also.  Don't count the wrinkles or flaws in your spouse.  So cool.  I tried to sit by my dad, but his cousin came and sat between us and then called me his wife.  Weird.  She's funny.  I forgot her name.  Then my dad left early as well.  It was cool though.  Thanks Lisa, for watching Sadie.  7-12-24

SATURDAY
Sadie and I did our best to clean up the house Saturday morning and to make things pleasant to come home to and then we quickly whipped up some rice krispie treats- we sort of made them together.  Sadie said she was making them with me, but kind of wanted to be doing other things at the same time and then she was disgusted with how quick and easy it was and that means it is boring.  She's funny.  They were the fluffiest rice krispie treats I've ever made.  It was so fun when they all started walking in the house, all concerned with how bad they must smell.  I didn't really notice.  We hugged everyone, heard some stories as they took turns showering and then as I was starting to fold a load of laundry Charity and Kelly walked in!  It was a really fun afternoon just sitting around chatting with Charity and sometimes Hunter.  Kelly konked out on the couch- she had her favorite week of FSY so far at BYU and was exhausted.  Steve stopped by with an injured bird that ended up dying a few minutes after he left, but it was fun to chat with him as well.  Just a nice relaxing Saturday!  My kind of day.  We got pizza for dinner- I loved chatting with Luke as we waited for the gf pizza at Dominoes.  Then we took a little walk to the park to end the day.  Well, and we had a movie night.  We watched Gran Tourismo- such a cool show.  I think the kids liked it!  Good times!!  7-13-24

TRUMP SHOT
We just found out that someone shot at Trump at a rally in PA and hit his ear, but killed someone else and injured another person.  So weird.  The only other Presidential candidate to be shot at was Joseph Smith!  In the history of the US.  Kinda crazy.  Not sure where the conspiracy is here, wish I had more info that I knew was correct.  We'll see how it plays out.  7-13-24

FAMILY MEETING
We made it to the meeting this month!  Pretty proud of that.  We heard about Jared's family's experience with trek and then read some stories from ancestors.  Pretty cool.  Then it was time for Brad to call so we left!  7-14-24

PHONE CALL WITH BRAD
This was a fun one hearing about his new area.  He's now in Umacollo in Arequipa.  It sounds like a bit of culture shock with how nice the homes are and the paved roads.  He's got someone who cooks for him and someone who does laundry.  Kinda cool.  I'm excited to hear how it goes.  The ward is huge.  He said people were asking to get baptized.  It sounds interesting!  I hope he ends up loving it as much as Moquegua.  His comp is Elder Manwaring from Arizona who is wanting to walk on to the BYU football team so he has special permission to workout for a whole hour everyday.  Kinda funny.  Brad is very excited about that.  7-14-24

LETTER FROM BRAD- Out of the Boonies
Holy absolutely insane week. Flew by so fast but at the same time felt like last week was forever ago. But its so weird because since my last email everything has changed completelyyyy. 

My house isn't just this tiny little room anymore we actually have a massive mission house with a kitchen and actual rooms along with 3 bathrooms. My comp is Elder Manwaring from Arizona and hes boutta go home soon so I already know I'm gonna be here for a minute. I'm in this area called Umacollo. Basically its the center of the city. Completely different from Moquegua because there's not a single building taller than 2 floors there and here they're all massive. There's absolutely 0 dirt roads too they're all nicely paved and taken care of. The mission office is like the center of my area so I can just walk over and poke my head in to say hi to President. Our ward is a legit actual ward. They have about 250 active members and it was so crazy seeing so many people at church before the sacrament. There's actually a couple people from my past areas which is super fun. 

This week we just decided to get everyone started early and get them hyped for this transfer so we did exchanges everyday and I haven't slept in my own bed yet hahaha. Super exciting though because it was fun being with so many Elders in so many areas. They were very successfull so that was good. 

This ward is crazy because the members just be bringing their friends to church and the friends just wanna become members and get baptized so we were just running around getting everyone's numbers that showed up. This area is so insane. Actually hyped to be here for the next couple months. 

I've been thinking a lot about how we can get our friends to asist church more so they can partake of the sacrament and I've realized there's one huge part that everyone forgets when it comes to our salvation. We teach very well the baptism covenant, the sacrament, gift of the holy ghost... those things we can all teach very well. But something that people seem to forget is we are saved on means of repentance. That we go to church to show our faith and repent. We take of the sacrament or don't take of the sacrament as a way to repent. That if we don't repent we wont be able to live in the celestial kingdom with our heavenly father. That through our faith in Christ and acting on that faith through repenting; or, turning towards christ and away from sin, by asisting church and partaking of the sacrament we are able to recieve those promised blessings and recieve the gift of eternal life. I think if we can understand that really asisting church and partaking of the sacrament is part of our daily repentance and that the sacrament is genuinely something we NEED we wont be missing it anymore. So go take the sacrament.

Sorry this weeks email was rough next week will be betta

I'll send the pics in a second too

7-14-24

MUELLER PARK WITH GRANDMA AND THE HATCHES

The Hatches are in town and we are excited for the plans we have this next week with them.  We met up with them, grandma, Simon and Heidi with her kids at Mueller park on Monday for some hotdogs and goodies.  We beat Grandma there, but it was a really good time.  We followed the shade around the little picnic site.  Everyone seemed pretty entertained by the water and the cousins.  It was a lot of fun.  7-15-24

LINDON AQUATIC CENTER
For our next hang out with the Hatches, we met up at Lindon Aquatic Center for some fun.  It was a scorching hot day, so we needed the nice cool water slides and lazy river to keep cool.  I had a lot of fun rounding the lazy river with whoever was in at the moment.  It was fun to watch Luke and Noah and everyone was having so much fun.  We were unable to find Sadie's life jacket so grandma grabbed her one while she was getting Porter's.  It was a good day.  I liked being able to talk with Sarah quite a bit and watching Aria's moods play out with her snow cone and ice cream cone :).  Funny stuff.  We had a great time.  Nate had shown up at about 3:00 to pick up Jack to take him home to LIam's birthday party.  On our way home, Luke, Noah, Erika, Molly, Sadie and I all stopped for some Wendy's.  The boys all needed to get their stuff over to the church for camp!  7-16-24

LUKE'S BIG OWIE
After showering from the pool, Luke and Noah quickly left to go play basketball with some friends at Barnes Park.  It felt pretty soon after, but maybe not, but they came walking in the door together and Luke was holding his shirt up to his head.  They were both pretty casual about telling me about it. Luke's friend Adrick had come down on him with his elbow to Luke's forehead on accident. I took one look and knew it needed some extra attention.  It was a big ol' gash in the point of his forehead.  I was a little bummed at first thinking I'd have to go sit in an urgent care/ER somewhere for the night, but then I got the idea to call Brent.  Maybe it didn't need stitches.  Lucky for us Brent mentioned that stitches would leave a really ugly scar with holes and I thought about Jack's from when he was little (we had no choice, that had to be stitched up).  So after a long call with Brent and a trip to Walgreens, we got some iodine, butterfly bandages, and some sticky foam tape (this was my idea) and went to work.  Thankfully Kelly was here to help squeeze the wound together so that I could place the bandages.  It looked pretty good with the butterflies and then I slapped some foam tape over it- it was SUPER STICKY!  I almost wish I'd been able to use it directly on the wound.  Brent emphasized the need for it to be really sticky to hold the wound all the way shut.  It made me nervous but Brent reassured me it would be okay.  We had a funny joke about how calling him is much cheaper than an ER visit and that even the iodine was cheaper than an ER visit so I had to send him some candy bars and address it to: Brent Hatch (aka: cheaper than an ER visit) for funzies.  I'm very grateful for his expertise and that things are easier because of him. At camp the second day, while I was in the hospital with Noah, Luke's bandages started to come off, so Nate had to re-apply all the stuff again and the picture he took of it while it was open looked SO GOOD!  I was pretty proud of us.  By a week it looked completely healed and you can almost not tell it happened.  7-16-24

VISITING COURTNEY AND BRIGGS
I finally made it over to meet Courtney's new baby.  This was exciting.  I loved talking with her.  Her comment about Mormon Moms being born with an innate ability to mother was interesting and has stuck with me.  I'm really excited for her to experience motherhood though.  I hope she enjoys it.  7-17-24

NOAH'S LEFT PONTINE STROKE- THE WHOLE STORY

I'm not sure if I should do a play by play of this or just a highlight reel.  We'll just see how it goes.  On Wednesday, around 3:00 while I was taking a little cat nap with Sadie, I got about 10 texts that woke me up.  It was Nate.  Noah had been playing on a slack line at camp and fallen off.  

His texts: 

Noah hurt himself.  I need some help

I didn't see it

But he fell onto his back from a few feet high.  Two or three.

He's sitting by me and I've given him a lot of cold water to drink

I think he might be in shock

He's able to answer all my questions

He seems agitated a little and it seems like he's not able to exactly identivy what's wrong.  He keeps saying "weird" a lot.

His eyes are red like he's been crying, which he kind of has but not sobbing.  I can tell he's in pain

He didn't hit his head

I've got him at a picnic table and told him to keep his head down

 

So you can imagine my surprise and worry.  Thankfully Nate called and we were able to talk about his situation.  It was hard to know what happened since he had not hit his head.  I was mostly unsure of what could be wrong and Nate didn't seem to think I should pick him up.  So after we talked, and I asked him to send me some video, I called Brent.  It was funny because he assumed I was calling about Luke's cut from the night before.  Brent thought it was probably nothing, but didn't see the harm in taking him to the ER for a brain bleed check.  I wasn't feeling like that was necessary, but then I saw the videos Nate sent.  As soon as I saw those, I was figuring out a way to go pick him up.  It was right then that Erika and Molly wanted to come home and for some reason, I still don't know why Kelly was home so early, Kelly was here when we got back.  This is one of our miracles.  I showed Kelly the videos and she was feeling as urgent as me to get him to the hospital.  So I left everyone in Kelly's hands and raced up to the campground- Camp Zarahemla, in Morgan- and could not get there soon enough!!  I stopped at a gas station for some ice- at Nate's request- and then pulled up to the camp.  Luke and Nate were standing with Noah and helping him walk- this looked way worse than I thought.  Nate proceeded to tell me that he was unable to walk and was feeling weakness or numbness in his right hand.  I started to freak out a little inside.  Then Noah got in the car and announced that he felt like he was going to throw up and Brent's words, "If he has a seizure or throws up, that's a 911 call!"  So I politely asked Noah to hold the throw up for 31 minutes until we could get to the hospital.  He did so good in the car!!  Didn't throw up at all.  Even stayed awake for most of the drive, just listening to his music because he didn't want me to talk to him.  He was really irritable and confused.  He told me the reason he didn't want to talk was because his mouth was numb and wasn't working right.  But it did feel like he was having a hard time finding the words.  But anyway.  We raced to McKay-Dee Hospital.  Got there around 6:00.  I parked in the ER drop off, I assisted Noah with walking, putting his arm around me and we hobbled into the ER.  They just stared at us for a minute.  Noah was really feeling nauseous so he said something and then I felt like holding him standing up was a bad idea so I asked for somewhere to put him.  They offered up the seat where they would do his blood pressure and such.  They did give him a barf bag, but he never ended up using it.  They seemed like they were listening to the list of symptoms I gave them (dizziness, numbness on his right side, confusion- I specifically said he hadn't hit his head) and then quickly took him back to be looked at.  He had a lot of doctors come in, lots of people doing a lot of things really quickly.  They got him some antinausea meds, they installed a neck brace, they took his shirt off, got him hooked up to all the monitors, had me sign consent for the CT scan, and then whisked him away.  They brought him back, did ultrasounds on all his vital organs and a chest x-ray.  As soon as they saw the results from the CT, they took off the neck brace, announced it was a concussion.  They told us they were going to let us go home.  I sat there a little stunned because I didn't feel like that was it.  And we sat there for quite a while before they gave us the discharge forms and told us we could leave.  I asked them specifically what I was supposed to do about his right side not really working and the MA (I assume) said, "Oh that will go away, just give it some time."  So I grabbed the scrip for antinausea meds and we hobbled back out to the car.  Feeling very unsure.  I was glad there wasn't a brain bleed, but this seemed like more than a concussion.  He was moving just like Gentry.  So we stopped for some Jimmy Johns on the way home.  Got home around 8:30, hobbled up the stairs in the quickest hobble I think I've ever been part of.  I don't know how we got up there in one piece, he was SO anxious to get in his bed.  Poor Kelly came into the room to find out how it all went and he quickly grumbled, "Please just leave!"  He did not want to talk to anyone or look at anyone.  It was so not him.  He laid down and we left the room.  I was pretty nervous about him and didn't feel like anything was settled, but I was trying to be patient.  They said it would go away.  He did end up taking a few bites of his sandwich later that night, we talked about him being able to go back up to camp tomorrow if he was feeling better.  I was trying to be positive.  He laid down and every time I checked on him in the night, he was wide awake, just laying there.  It was very unsettling and several times, I had weird waking sessions where I woke up really worried about him and had to check on him.  I asked him one time if he wanted to go downstairs and watch a movie or something.  He really didn't want to do anything and still really didn't want to talk.  He did not seem to be getting better at all.  The next morning, I woke up at 5:00 and could not get back to sleep.  I showered and then I started researching what could be wrong with him.  Surprisingly he was sleeping in which isn't like him and I was glad he was finally sleeping, so I decided to try not to worry until he did wake up.  But at about 10:00 I had the thought that maybe he shouldn't be sleeping!!  Luckily, he woke up then and had all of his same symptoms.  I helped him down the stairs.  He tried to eat a pancake, I think I cut it up for him.  But I was completely unsettled.  There was no way this was normal and going to go away on it's own.  I just didn't know where to take him.  Ironically, Shelly Last was texting asking how Luke was doing (he had hurt himself with the water balloon launcher- I hadn't heard about that one) and we ended up talking about Noah's symptoms.  She works at a physical therapist office and was able to talk to her doc about Noah.  He suggested a concussion doc (we were still thinking it was just a concussion).  I had tried calling the pediatrician, just to get someone to look at him and the soonest they could get him in was 4:00.  So I tried this referral and they weren't answering phones at all, and only promised to return my call within a few business days, so that wasn't helping.  It was so crazy.  I really was about to lose my mind because I had no idea what to do with him!!  I called Nate and he was helpful.  I just couldn't do anything else.  Finally I texted Brent again and was able to fill him in on a few more of the new symptoms- the right side weakness wasn't quite a thing when we talked last- and his response was "He needs an MRI.  Take him to the ER".  So I asked, "Why didn't they do anything about it yesterday??"  Brent said, "They were just looking ofr a head bleed at the time  I would take him to Primary Children's Hospital"  And I annoyingly said, "I asked them about his immobility and they said it would go away"  To which Brent repeated, "He needs an MRI".  This was all I needed.  I loaded Noah up in the car, woke up Erika to be in charge since Kelly was still asleep, and then drove up to Primary Children's Hospital hoping they even let me in.  I was under the impression that you had to be referred there.  So I drove up to the ER drop off, we hobbled into this ER, and within a few seconds of walking in the door, one of the guys says, "You look like you could use a wheelchair.  Let me get you one."  And I about melted.  I felt like we were finally in the right place!!  They immediately started looking at him and got his vitals as I spoke to the triage nurse.  They listened so closely to everything I said.  They noticed the drooping face and immobility right away.  They warned me that when we get back to our room we will be swarmed with doctors and nurses and that if I needed anything to speak up.  And that's exactly what happened.  It was SO NICE to have him under their care.  They were shocked to learn that McKay-Dee had discharged him in this condition, but quickly went and got the CT scan in the cute pirate room.  They did both kinds of CT scans and repeated a few of the things they had done at McKay-Dee.  Then took him down for an MRI.  I was SO RELIEVED!!!  Sure enough, the MRI showed that he had a left pontine infarction- I was told it was a clot by one doc and then another doc corrected me (saying it was not quite big enough to be called a clot, but basically a small clot) when I called it a clot, so that was funny, but same thing!  They got him some aspirin and then wanted to do an EKG to check out his heart.  That showed a few things they weren't happy with so they ended up doing an ECHO on his heart as well.  This was actually really cool and fun to watch as they pumped the bubbles into his vein and we could see the bubbles go into the left side of his heart and nothing went over to the other side.  The only hard part about this was they were helping a student learn how to use the ultrasound machine for about 20 minutes and then the rest of the time, almost 45 minutes total- they were doing the tests.  It was good they were thorough.  They didn't find anything wrong with his heart thankfully.  We ended up sitting there for quite a while, waiting for them to move him to Neurology floor, and this was a challenge for Noah.  We talked a little, but he still wasn't really able to talk.  He needed to pee but they wanted a pee sample so they were having him pee in the hand held urinal thing.  It was difficult to say the least.  He couldn't pull his pants down and push the urinal thing in them at the same time.  I was really nervous about going too far and making him feel uncomfortable.  It was tricky!  He kept putting it off but eventually couldn't hold it anymore.  We had to make do and I ended up pulling his pants down from behind so he could hold the urinal in the front.  I didn't see anything.  So pretty magical.  This was one of those things that made me sit and think about what I was going to do if this paralysis didn't go away.  

The sequence of events gets a little shady from here on out.  They moved us up to the 2nd floor to Neurology.  There were a lot of really nice doctors and nurses there.  Noah was able to get up and with assistance walk to the bathroom from the first time there.  That was nice.  The first night there, Nate, Charity, Kelly and Erika all came to visit and THIS was the turning point for his speech.  I was so grateful and also a little jealous that he hadn't snapped out of it for me.  But just having their smiles and laughter- I hope I never forget him tearing up as he saw them walk in the room.  It was a turning point.  From that evening on, his language improved significantly!!  

Thursday night was a weird one.  He was having a hard time falling asleep and every time he did, he would stop breathing.  We had propped him up because he was also having a hard time swallowing his spit and struggled to breath then, but this was really getting annoying because when he stopped breathing his heartrate would drop and then the alarms would all go off.  Poor guy couldn't sleep at all.  They sent in some docs to check him out in the middle of the night, and they did basically nothing except offer to move him to the ICU, but after they left he was doing just fine.  Kinda funny.  He didn't sleep well until the last night for some reason.  

By Friday they had sent in the swallowing therapist and he passed his tests pretty quickly.  He was cleared to eat real food finally.  This was nice.  He loved his fish crackers that first night.  As soon as Noah learned that his recovery depended on him wanting it, he was all over it!  He started opening all of his snacks and trying to do everything he could with his useless limbs.  It was pretty cool how quickly he regained a good amount of usage.  Friday was his pooping day.  He hadn't pooped for days.  Probably because of the stroke but also because he wasn't eating much.  But I had told him that that would help with his progress, so he worked really hard and was able to finally poop!!  He yelled, "Oh YEAH!" from the bathroom when he finally got it out of there.  He continued the improve on everything the whole five days we were there.  Trying new things and practicing them.  Walking, pushing buttons on his remote, feeding himself, texting (still needing some help here), shooting a basketball! (on Sunday they could tell he was getting really restless and gave him a basketball hoop to hang on the door and then brought another one while we were out)  He looked like a regular teenager walking the halls.  If he hadn't had all the IV's and such hanging off him he would have passed as a visitor!  He had a lot of visitors while he was there- the little kids and Nate came almost every day.  Charity and Hunter spent Saturday and Sunday all evening there.  Meg and Sam, she brought some fun toys for Noah.  Grandpa Hatch and Jo.  Grandma Hatch and Simon.  The Maughans had brought over a little gift bag for Noah and I and the fam brought that up with some snacks and crossword puzzles and thinking putty.  And all the while we were in the hospital we had friends, family and neighbors texting asking what they could do, bringing over meals, goodies, thankfully Brooke babysat that first night.  It was so incredible to have so much help and love and support.  I was SO PROUD of Noah the entire time.  This kid didn't complain once.  He never seemed to get too discouraged and was very positive and hoping for improvements the entire time.  He didn't even complain about the food.  It wasn't the greatest for some reason.  He was pretty fascinated with the lack of craving food that he was having and Kelly looked it up and realized that the part of his brain that was affected was the part responsible for cravings.  Kinda funny.  We found out Friday that we were most likely going to be there for the whole weekend and that was a bit of a downer for both of us, but again, Noah didn't complain at all.  We watched a lot of movies.  He practiced his handwriting on the whiteboard- everyone did for that matter :).  He was so proud of his "Monday" under the section on the board that said, "What is most important to you right now?"  He was pretty funny about that.  He was really nice to everyone who came in the room, thanking them and being very polite.  He was fun to joke with again and able to talk almost perfectly by the end of the stay.  

Saturday, Nate came to be with Noah so that I could run home and shower.  This was a nice little break.  I needed a shower so bad.  Unfortunately there weren't a lot of clean clothes or towels, but it was still good.  Luke and Jack came home while I was waiting for Molly to get home from Jonah's birthday party.  Just as we were about to leave for the hospital I got a text from Richelle that said, "Chick-fil-a will be there in a half hour!"'  So we waited about 20 minutes and then grabbed the food and ran.  It was so much food and so nice of her!!!  Noah was talking about that chick-fil-a sandwich after his sedation a few days later- HA! Of course they came and did all the physical and occupational therapy while I was gone!!  I was gone for three hours and that's when they chose to do everything!!  They discontinued fluids on Saturday too, which meant, no more tower to wheel around everywhere. 

On Sunday, we decided to go up to the 3rd floor for church and as we were sitting there waiting for it to start we were asked to give the opening and closing prayers.  It was hard to see all the kids in there.  Knowing that some of them live there at the hospital and may not ever get better.  So sad.  But it was a cool meeting.  Noah saying the prayer was pretty exciting- two days before he would not have been able to do that.  It was fun to have Charity and Hunter with us at church.  The Spirit there was unmistakable.  I loved seeing the deacon in the wheel chair passing and being able to enjoy that Priesthood responsibility regardless of his situation.  Nate and the kids had met up at Mueller Park to hang out with Grandpa Hatch and the Hatches and Heidi and then came to the hospital so we could all be there for Brad's phone call.  This was kind of hard, I felt bad we hadn't told Brad and he kept reminding us that we could email him, but I think it was the right way to handle it.  Noah was looking good and talking just fine by then, so it was nice for him to get to talk with Brad and Brad could see that he was doing pretty well.  Sunday night was his best night!  He woke up feeling so good!

Monday we were so anxious to get out of there!!  This was the hardest day I think as far as time passage goes.  It was so slow.  We took a little walk, going all the way downstairs and OUTSIDE believe it or not, and Noah did great!  There wasn't a whole lot to see or do, so we lost interest quickly and I do think Noah was getting a little tired.  So we went back to the room.  Didn't kill as much time as we had wanted.  They told us around 10:00 that they had scheduled his MRA for 3:30. So we were baby stepping to then.  While Noah was napping I went down and had lunch with my friend Sherry- coincidentally we had planned to hang out that morning before we knew Noah was going to be there, but she had an appointment there as well, for her daughter.  It was so funny that we were both there at the same time.  When I got back up to his room, Noah woke up and then a few minutes later they surprised him with the news that they were doing his MRA early!  Wahoo!!  They took us down- Noah insisted on walking, while the nurse pushed the bed- HAHA!- to radiology.  They talked for a minute and then sent me out of the room.  It felt like a long time, but maybe only an hour in the waiting room and then they came and got me.  I got to talk with Nate while I was waiting- we have been overwhelmed with all the miracles we've been blessed with these past few days and were able to sit and talk about all of that.  Kind of nice.  He was so funny coming out of sedation.  One of my favorite things was when he said, "I'm really lucky to have so many younger siblings."  It was so cute!!  So sweet the way he said it.  I loved getting a little video of him talking about who's good at spikeball and who's not- HA!  He was really funny.  The nurse and I almost peed our pants laughing.  Once they took him up to his room, he was beyond ready to go home so they actually just started to discharge us before he was even completely out of the sedation.  Kind of weird, but I wasn't going to argue with anyone.  They hardly said anything about his MRA and MRI- but I guess everything looked okay or they wouldn't let us go. It was 6:00 when we finally got out to the car and driving toward chick-fil-a.  He was still coming out of the sedation, but by the time we got home, I think he was all there.  It was such a relief to have him home.  Still concerned about his well-being, but so good to have him home.  I think it was a little overwhelming, but mostly good.  Noah even taught our family night lesson that night!  I was so impressed with him standing up the entire time.  He was totally showing off.  The Hatches came by that night for a movie night, but we never turned on the movie.  Noah didn't sleep very well.  7-17-24--7-22-24

BAD CHOICES

So.  I'm not super proud of this, but I want to journal it.  I made the stupid decision to take a walk over to the park on Tuesday.  Noah had walked around a ton at the hospital and even took a little walk outside, so I thought this was totally fine.  Sadie loves her walks and really wanted to go to Ponds Park- seemed fine to me and Noah.  Luke even came with us, which I feel was an inspired decision of his.  He was so fun with Sadie while we were there and Noah and I sat on the curb.  After a half hour or so of sitting there.  Noah said he wanted to go home.  So I walked a few feet over to tell Luke and Sadie we were going to go and while I was over there, Noah started to stand up, got a little dizzy, said, "I'm feeling a little lightheaded" and then when I looked over, he was falling, very slowly, to the ground, in the wood chips!!!  It felt like slow motion in the moment.  I freaked out a little when he started shaking but remembered that that's what I do when I pass out too.  Luke seemed shaken a little with me, but quickly ran home to get the van and came back within minutes to get us.  I was so relieved that he was with us.  I sat with Noah on the ground while we waited and then Luke and I helped him to the car.  I was so mad at myself for taking him there.  I debated calling the hospital, I thought for sure they'd make us come in, but it had been so hot outside, he hadn't had all his water, he had been sitting on the ground with his knees bent... all things that would have contributed.  So I did call the doc later and they were not concerned.  They said to watch for more droopiness in his face or less mobility in his arm or leg, but not worried about the lightheadedness.  PHEW!!  But still!! Kinda scary.  7-23-24

PIONEER DAY!
We had a pretty chill Pioneer Day.  Noah got out and dribbled the basketball a little for the first time on the court.  Nate and I just sat there marveling over all the miracles we had just experienced and the miracle of Noah's life (for the second time).  Charity and Hunter came up for dinner with us- nothing special, just leftover Lasagna from Lisa :).  We were all still recovering from our crazy weekend I think.  I kind of wish we'd tried to do something more, but it was a good day.  7-24-24

NATE'S 45th BIRTHDAY
We spent most of the day getting ready for Nate's birthday because he was working.  So I started on the cake and then we went shopping for gifts.  It was fun to see what the kids picked out.  Sadie got a hat, Erika got him some caramels.  We all got him a crossnet, but it wasn't coming until the next day unfortunately.  I finished his fish cake and then it was time for him to come home!  We all went to see Escape from Germany and then Buffalo Wild Wings after!  This was a fun evening.  Grandma Ruthie and Jen and Grandpa Hatch and Grandma Hatch and Simon all came.  Charity and Hunter even came up for a second day in a row.  It was really fun!  I think Nate felt good and spoiled.  He opened his presents when we got home and then Thursday when his crossnet came we all spent a lot of time  playing together and the little kids all played with it for the rest of the day :).  Sadie and Molly really loved it.  We lit some fireworks and did sparklers once it got dark.  We are so lucky to have Nate and all that he sacrifices for us.  I hope he had a good day.  7-25-24

DATE NIGHT
We went to Red Lobster and then to see the movie Twisters.  We LOVED the movie!!  This one might be better than the first!  7-26-24

JACK'S TALK
Jack was asked to speak about how to grow your testimony of Jesus Christ and tie it in with YM camp.  He did such a great job!!  I love that he wrote his talk himself and that he was so brave to get up and give it. So proud of him!  7-27-24

SADIE'S TALK
Sadie gave a cute talk on Sunday.  Here it is:

Sadie’s Talk 7/27/24

Last year, I was having a hard time sleeping
because my legs were hurting.

Usually my dad can give me a blessing,
but my dad was working.

My big brother Bradley
had just received
the Melchizedek Priesthood. 

So I asked Bradley to give me a blessing.

He was a little nervous
because he had never given a blessing before.

But he put his hands on my head
and gave me a Priesthood blessing.

The Priesthood is Jesus’ power on earth. 
It can make us feel better.

After the blessing
I told my mom that my legs felt better.

I loved when Bradley did that.

I’m thankful for the Priesthood
and that it can make me feel better.

PHONE CALL WITH BRADLEY
We had a nice time talking to Brad.  It was a quieter conversation this week, I think because it wasn't a great connection.  But we got to hear about his week and the weird couple who chewed him out and thought he was checking out the wife.  So weird.  He sounded good and like he's enjoying his mission.  He wants some peanut butter packets and air head bites along with some spinners and lures so he can try fishing in a nearby river.  Some white shirts and some socks.  I hope it all gets to him eventually.  I like the price of Orion Shipping company, but I don't love their non-communication.  I don't even know if they are still shipping!  Oh well.  I'm sure it's fine.  I loved seeing Brad.  7-28-24

BRAD'S EMAIL

Here's my pics

I love mission work. This week flew by so fast it was crazy. I also legit saw soooo many miracles this week and felt truly blessed for being obedient and working. 

Tuesday: super fun day. We had zone conference and talked a lotttt about references and also getting people to sacrament meeting. I also had to give a short little training about it so that was fun. Today after we took a recent convert to the temple and we got to go in a little to help him go through the right doors and everything. I LOVE THE TEMPLE. ITS SO NICE. I just try to take as much time as possible because I never want to leave. Its such a blessing the temple is in my zone because now we can take our friends to it whenevaaaaa. Super happy because of that. 

Wednesday: we had district council and some of the Elders showed up 45 min late so we had a super long discussion with them about how it is nott gonnna happen ever again haha. We then went to the temple with our friend whos preparing for baptism. So powerful as well. We also went to visit a recent convert and we found his aunt with her 3 kids that want to come to church and want to come with their family because they have family that are members. Suchhhh a huge miracle. 

Jueves: also found a half miracle today. This 2 people showed up to church while we were doing some meetings and told us they wanted to come to church and be members. We were pretty hyped and had a super powerful lesson with them. We were mostly in shock because it was unexpected. We gave them a book of mormon and they promised they'll read it and all that fun stuff. We were all laughing and having a wonderful time and it was just suchba good lesson. 

Friday: we had divisiones and found 2 other miracles today. We knocked this door looking for a member and his brother answered. Told us he was already planning on coming to church on Sunday with his little sister. We set up a ride for him and confirmed church with them. We then right after knocked another members house and found an incomplete family that wanted to learn and come to church. THEN after that night we had a freaking powerful lesson with a bunch lf JAS. We were with this girl that had a baptismal date but had too many doubts and then she brought her friend. She has 0 experience with religion. But we had the lesson aand everyone started sharing their testimony and the spirit was just soooo strong holy. The 2 girls were crying because they felt the spirit so strong. It was so cool. 

Saturday: we also went to the temple with our other friend preparing for baptism. I love the temple sm...

Sunday: we had stake conference yuhhhh. Elder Truque of the seventy came and talked in each session. SUCH A COOL PERSON. He started by making all the people that weren't members raise their hand and had them explain why they were at church. So clutch. But he was such a powerful speaker and was actually super interesting to listen to. Almost all of our friends made it to church and everyone made them feel welcome and introduced themselves and everything. Then after, our super cool miracle that just showed on thursday didnt show up. We called him and he wanted to figure out where we lived and if there were apartments nearby. He kept trying to figure out where we lived. Then we texted him and asked him if we could meet this week. He called us and was super angry. He told us that I was checking our his girlfriend during our lesson, (keep in mind they're like the same age as my parents...) but was just saying some insane threats to me. He said he wanted to return the book of mormon and wanted to give it to me so he could "teach me a lesson, best me up, kill me..." all the fun drunk guy threats. There were some crazy wild stuff that came out of that guys mouth. We basically felt it prolly wasn't that safe to go walk around especially because this guy lived right next to the church so we just spent a lot of time planning anf calling for a minute. I'll let you guys know if anything happens with him. The thing that sucks is I have no clue what I did so not sure what to change for next time... but then after we found these 2 families that have been asisting church and not all are members so we had some super fun lessons that night. 

Spiritual thought: i was thinking of Nephi when it got dangerous and God told him to flee into the desert. Because another insstance when it was getting dangerous is God gave Nephi power to knock over his brothers. The both were answers from God. So makes us realize how when we pray for help or answers we need to be open to all options. Im sure Nephi didnt love the idea of running into the desert but he soon realized the blessings of doing so. If we are willing to ask God what he would have us do, we are going to be blessed and protected.

7-29-24

PHYSICAL THERAPY
I spent a good hour and a half on the phone calling Primary Children's Hospital over and over  trying to figure out where they had referred Noah for PT and then as soon as I had figured it out and found a new place and had the pediatrician refer him to the new place (since the original one couldn't actually take him), I got a notification on my phone telling me I had a voice mail and it was the PT where he'd been referred, from the 25th!  But he has an appointment now, so we're all good.  The ball can get rolling!  7-29-24

CAMPING AT LOST CREEK

We got to go on our family camping trip this week!!  It went so well!  We weren't sure how it would go with Noah still on the mend.  But I think we made it work!  We were so happy Charity came and that Hunter was able to make it up for a few hours on Wednesday evening.  We played in the lake, sat by the fire, laughed, lots of tears from Sadie- she was pretty accident prone this time!  Fell on her ear on a huge pointy rock off the hammock, burned her poor little legs with stuff from the fire, her legs were bugging her on Tuesday night as usual, and several other slips and falls, even a fall with Jack while he was carrying her on his back.  She was trying to be brave through all of it.  We had the yurt for Charity and Noah to sleep comfortably, which was good.  Nate, Luke and Noah spent every free minute (which was most of them) fishing.  Lots of napping in hammocks.  So many snacks and some new-ish meals!  Here were some of the highlights from the week:

- Staring at the "squirrel trap" (cup of trail mix with paracord tied to it) on the log for at least an hour.
- Cross net in the crazy allergen-filled weeds that set Charity off for the whole day- so many sneezes.
- Luke and Noah losing the fish in the kayak.
- Charity's funny stories about her three roommates who "one is deaf, one doesn't speak English and the other one is a psycho!".
- Cool shooting stars around the fire.
- Luke and Noah's spiritual thoughts.
- Sadie waking up Noah in the yurt- Noah bringing her down to the tent.
- Erika and Sadie on the paddleboard.
- Me and Charity taking a little swim in the lake- SO COLD!!
- Luke giving Sadie a blessing for her legs while Nate was out fishing.
- Thirties temps at night, but staying warm in our awesome sleeping bags.

- Stopping for yummy corn dogs and deep fried snickers and babybel cheese!  

7-30-24--8-2-24