July 2025

 BAPTISMS WITH THE HATCHES

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

June 2025

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

May 2025

 SADIE FIELD TRIP TO CROSS E RANCH
This was a fun one.  I didn't get chosen as a parent chaperone, but I went anyway and just met up with Sadie and her calss.  We had so much fun!  Petted the llamas, baby cows, baby bunnies!  I think the bunnies were her favorite.  They rode the little hay ride.  We played ont he playground and ate lunch.  It wa sgreat!!  Sadie seemed happy.  I loved being there with her.  5-1-25

AUSTIN AND AUBREY WEDDING DAY
This was pretty fun, exactly a week after Kelly and Devan, we were at the Taylorsville temple going through all the same things with the Maynes family, only it was Austin and Aubrey.  I loved their sealing- the guy was a son in law of President Nelson's.  Kinda cool.  He did a great job. We saw them sealed, got a few pictures, headed home to get the food and then right back down to Alpine this time, for the "dinner".  Nate did an amazing job on the food!  Went above and beyond!  He ran around setting it all up and then had to serve it as well.  Kinda nuts, but he really did awesome!  I sat at the table with Molly and Sadie and did almost nothing.  It was good to be there though.  After the dinner they moved the tables and chairs around and did a cute little vow thing with the rings and then we left.  I feel bad we didn't go to the reception, but it was already a long day.  So happy for them though.  Nate and I were going to try to get our date night, since we hadn't had one in two weeks, but it was a no go because I needed to set up the Senior breakfast.  5-2-25

 DISCO OF OZ
We were all happy to see Molly dancing her heart out in her performance in the Disco of Oz as a tornado!  Molly did awesome!!  She looked so good up there, knew all the right steps, right on beat.  It was fun!  She had a pretty good cheering section too, with all of us, including the newlyweds, and Grandma and Simon!  Fun stuff.  5-3-25

SOUTH END! ERIKA
Erika made it to the South End meet this year!  of course!  In hurdles.  of course!  She did SO AWESOME!!  I was so proud of her!!  I loved that I got to be there for that even though I was not feeling great that day.  5-6-25

SIERRA ENDOWMENT
I was so glad they did Erika's game when they did, I was able to go to the temple for Sierra's endowment.  Nate came too :).  It was awesome to be there for her.  I feel like we were there for Meg the most :).  Nate had to hurry off to work, but I got to go to Leatherby's with everyone.  Kelly and Devan were there too which was aweosme.  Kelly got to be Sierra's escort.  Good stuff.  Jen was so nice to pay for everyone!  She is the sweetest.  5-6-25

DISTRICT FOR ERIKA
Erika also made it to District!  She did great here as well.  I am so proud of her and all that she's been able to do this spring!  She was on the track team, Lacrosse team and rec soccer!  She did fantastic at District, didn't quite pull off a PR, but did great!  5-9-25

GRANDPA HATCH'S BIRTHDAY
After Erika's meet and me finishing the cake, we drove up to Mueller Park to celebrate Grandpa Hatch's 70th birthday!!  I really cannot believe he's 70.  And nobody else would believe it either.  He doesn't seem 70.  We had a fun time though.  Ate some hotdogs and hamburgers, visited with Steve and grandpa, played some made up version of Volleyball which was actually kind of fun.  It was rushed because the boys had to all leave to go to Father's and Sons, but I think it was a good time.  He liked his carrot cake I made him even though it had all but melted.  Happy birthday Pappy!  5-9-25

MOTHER'S DAY!!!
My favorite day!!  I loved Mother's day this year! It was wonderful.  I spent the evening before with all my kids!  Everyone was here, we were playing games, Sherry Chambers came to visit, we had pancakes for dinner which I think is going to be our new tradition.  I got to sit and visit with Charity and Hunter while everyone else went shopping with Kelly.  That evening felt like part of the celebration :).  Then in the morning, I got to have a delicious breakfast as they showered me with gifts!  In the living room this year, but still great :).  Eveyrone was so nice and gave me such sweet thoughtful gifts!  I loved it.  Then Church.  We didn't get ot hear from the primary because our song person thinks she needs to be micromanaged in that area.  The bishopric did not specify that yes, we are still doing the thing that we do every single year.  Sorry, still bitter.  It's fine.  The Seniors spoke, I loved that!  Then RS where we don't talk about moms was great too.  After church, Kelly and Devan stopped by for a game with me- that was so fun, before leaving to have some Brenchley church and time.  Charity and Hunter played a game with me as well before heading up to Idaho.  The rest of us had a lot of fun playing games and eating Nate's amazing food, before heading up to Grandma Ruthie's to celebrate and love on her for a minute.  She did a cute FHE lesson that had nothing to do with moms :).  But we got to give her a gift and had a nice evening with everyone.  Then the boys called :).  5-11-25

GOODBYE TO KELLY AND DEVAN
They threw a little goodbye party the night before leaving, at Gailey Park.  We enjoyed hanging out with them and the Brenchley's one more time.  It was a hard evening for me.  It's just so hard to let go of my kids.  I am realizing I am not a sharer.  I don't share very well.  So this will take some getting used to, some practice maybe.  I hope I can do better than I did that day, but I think I'll cut myself a tiny smidge of slack and hopefully just do better next time.  I just love my Kelly too much.  5-13-25

SIERRA AND MATT WEDDING DAY AND GOODBYE FOR REALS, KELLY AND DEVAN
This was another big one we'd been waiting for.  It has felt a little deja vu-ish with all the weddings, waiting in the waiting rooms together, and doing all these things over and over, but it's been really cool too.  It was fun to see Matt and Sierra sealed.  Their sealer was Matt's mom's seminary teacher once upon a time, which is pretty cool.  He did a great job as well.  I liked how he went into detail about the covenant.  I like sitting there holding Nate's hand and thinking about our sealing too :).  Things went great, we got some pictures int he POURING RAIN at the Layton temple, and then we snuck out!  It was SO COLD and my dress was full of water, totally stretched out, it was ridiculous.  But we changed, then went to the luncheon over in West Kaysville.  This was good- I liked how they did it.  I LOVED Meg's speech.  Chris's too, they did awesome.  It was a good time.  Minus that Jack couldn't eat any of the Olive Garden food.  Then we got a couple of hours of a break and then headed down to Wheeler Farm to help set up the reception.  This went pretty quick and was pretty painless.  It looked great!  We had a great time sitting and chatting at our table for most of the reception.  That was fun.  I loved those last few minutes with Kelly and Devan.  Charity and Hunter had gone and got some Chick-fil-a for everyone, so we went out to the parking lot to eat and while we were out there it was time to say goodbye to Kelly and Devan.  This was SO SAD!!  I seriously don't know if my heart can handle all this.  But we said our goodbyes, cried, and cried some more, and then they drove off.  It was heartbreaking to see them drive away.  I know they will have a great adventure and I am very excited for them, but this is so hard!!  We went back inside just in time to catch them cutting the cake.  That was fun and seeing them so excited was really great.  I loved being there with family and supporting Meg and Sierra.  We helped clean up which also went SO FAST!  Especially compared to Kelly's reception.  And came home.  We have a couple weeks til the next wedding, so we can recharge a little :).  But this wa swonderful!  Hard to believe these two are married!!  5-14-25

HONORS NIGHT FOR ERIKA
One hard thing we had to choose was to miss Erika's honors night.  I knew what award she was getting, but I had no idea just how meaningful this would be!  I was sad we missed it when we got a video of Coach Yates talking about how amazing Erika is.  This is what he said:

(the beginning is cut off, but he's telling how Erika's score was higher than the usual score) was about 125-195, it was 425-395!  So what that score means is we do an 8 minute run like Coach Spencer was talking about and I count laps, you divide the class into 2 groups.  It's competeition, I think competition is great for the students, so every time they cross the finish the line I count a lap, for eight minutes, every time they go through and they were inside so the score gets quite high.  Erika was in that class today and she was not going to let her class get her groove down.  She wanted to make sure she won.  And that's one of the great things I love about Erika, she is just a fierce competitor, doesn't let anything stand in her way, it's been great to watch that all three years she's been here.  Nothing stood in her way, she's not going to let anyone tell her no or pull her back from anything, she was gonna push forward and you can see that in every aspect of her life.  

How cool is that!!  I am so proud of her!!  I echo this only times it by 10 cuz I know her :).  She is amazing!!  I could not be more proud.  5-14-25

BUILD A BUSINESS DAY- MOLLY
This is one of my favorite things about 3rd grade!!  It always takes me back to my business days in 3rd grade, with Courtney and our C & C Bakery.  Molly had a couple friends she was working with, Maeve and Coco, so they called their business MCM!  So cute!!  Molly and I had been working so hard on her letter keychains for weeks!!  They turned out SO GOOD!!  They also sold bracelets and did a ring toss with soda.  It was so much fun to get it ready and thanks to Noah we got it all in the school that morning.  It sounded like things went really well.  Molly was so happy after!!  She didn't even complain when I let her and Sadie walk home carrying all of her extra stuff!!  Oops.  But luckily, she'd sold all the sodas.  So fun though!  Good job Molly!!

HAPPY 24th ANNIVERSARY TO US!!
We did it!  24 years so far!!  I got Nate a book by Presiden Nelson and he got me a cool Minky blanket for watching games in the cold as well as a neck fan for the hot games!  We got to celebrate Friday by going on the first date in almost a month!  We went to the movie Thunderbolts which was AWESOME and had dinner at Chick-fil-a because we were running a little late for our movie- oddly enough it was the only time I've ever waited in a Chick-fil-a drive thru for more than a few minutes- THIRTY MINUTES LATER!!!  SO crazy.  This is why I don't choose where we go.  5-15-25

PICNIC ON THE PLAYGROUND
This was a fun year for picnic on the playground!  Molly picked Dylans, Sadie picked Pretzel bites so on the way home from taking Becky her medicine, we grabbed their food and headed over to the school- this is our first time going without kids!  Aunt Meg was in town, so she came too!  We laid out the cool blankets Nate got from costco and ate our delicious food.  It was so fun!  Jack and Erika both paid a visit and enjoyed the time with us.  I loved it!  Molly showed Erika the new gaga ball pit!!  Very exciting!  We got to run a few errands with Meg- taking her flowers to someone in Ogden and Costco for Nate's catering order.  Good times. 5-16-25

LAST WEEK OF SOCCER FOR ERIKA AND NOAH
THis was a reallyg reat soccer season!  I loved it.  Both teams did amazing.  I am getting really excited for next year when they are on the same team.  5-17-25

LACROSSE BANQUET
This was a nice night.  Rainy, but nice.  I wish I'd sat closer to the people talking, but I did get to talk with Krista and Emily for a lot of it.  The food was good enough :).  Erika really should have gotten the rookie of the year award, but they gave it to a senior instead.  Such is the life as a 9th grader.  She will have her moment one day I'm sure.  She really had a great season!  She even got invited to play on Varsity for the playoffs.  She didn't get to play in the first game and the second game was during her soccer game, so she opted out, but we were so proud of her and her determination this season!  So much fun!  She got a cute award about how she was always in the right place at the right time, can't remember waht it was called.  But I was so proud of her.  5-17-25

STAKE SPEAKING ASSIGNMENTS
I was asked to trade September Ponds Park speaking assignment with one of the new Primary Presidency that was just called, so that they didn't have to speak right away.  It would have been perfectly normal if I wasn't already assigned to speak in the Hidden Valley ward on the same day.  I decided to be h elpful and agreed to do both.  I had already gotten Clarissa Allen to speak with me, and had no luck with anyone else that I knew, so I let Pres. Morrell try to find someone.  He chose to do it himself, which was funny.  So I gave two talks last Sunday.  One in our ward and one in Hidden Valley ward a few hours later.  I was very nervous as usual.  And I had just spoken in our ward back in October, so that was weird.  But writing one talk and giving it twice did end up being the better deal I think.  I spoke about the Growth of the Church.  I'll post it here:

In Elder Rasband's talk, "Right Before Our Eyes" he shared this prophecy from Joseph Smith back in 1834, to a small schoolhouse filled with all who held the Priesthood at the time.  To them he said, “It is only a little handful of Priesthood you see here tonight, but this Church will fill North and South America—it will fill the world.”  That prophecy is being fulfilled “right before our eyes.”  The membership of The Church has reached over 17 million.  Last year there were 80,000 missionaries serving in 450 missions who brought in 308,000 new members.  We have 367 temples in various stages of design, construction or operation.  And currently there are 800,000 students worldwide enrolled in seminary and institute, the highest enrollment in the history of The Church.  And enrollment in BYU pathways has reached nearly 75,000 and counting.  These are some big numbers!  I like to see the numbers and marvel at the miracle that has grown from the sincere prayer offered up by a 14 year old boy.

I just finished reading the Saints book series, well, technically I listened to it on 1.25 speed, but it was such a great experience.  You get a bird's eye view of the growth and movement of The Church and get to see how it was molded and shaped to what we have today.  I love to see the patterns of revelation followed by each Prophet.  When a question or problem came up they would study it out, gather information and pray, sometimes for months or years, seek counsel from the Lord and then carefully present the revelation to the members of The Church.  The faith and prayers it has taken to move The Lord's work forward is incredible.  But what stood out to me the most was the individuals and the stories of people who were moved by The Spirit.  There were a lot of Saints who struggled with changes and new commandments, who went to the Lord and asked.  Most of them, their hearts were changed completely, or simply softened to accept the Gospel and its teachings.  I was amazed at the power of the Holy Ghost and the role that personal revelation has played in the growth of The Church.  I highly recommend reading the Saints book.

President Nelson said: “Do you see what is happening right before our eyes? I pray that we will not miss the majesty of this moment! The Lord is indeed hastening His work.”

Elder Rasband clarified:

“Hastening” is a word that matters. It suggests moving quickly, accelerating, and even urgency. In the growth of the Church and the plan of Christ, hastening is happening. And we are all a part of it.

 I hope it's okay, I decided to share a few examples of the hastening that have happened right before MY eyes.

This might sound cheesy, but I LOVE seeing the Young Women as I pull up to Sacrament meeting.  I'm all frantic, finally finished with the getting kids ready obstacle course, and then I see the young women and I just feel better.  They set the tone for me and help me to reset.   It's one of my favorite new changes made in the Church recently.  The Young Women are my idols.  I had the privilege of going to all the ward conferences.  As part of our discussion with the Young women in each ward, we asked them to describe what God's love feels like to them.  Here are some of their answers:  stepping into the sun, from a cold shadow.  Calm.  Peaceful.  Motivating.  Like a warm hug.  Our next question was what can you do to bring yourself closer to Him and His love when you are not feeling it.  Some of their answers were: listening to music, texting a friend, serving others, spending time in nature, smiling, going for a run, reading scriptures and praying.  Their examples are priceless.  The young women of our stake know!  They are part of the hastening of the Lord's work.  They are using their testimonies to strengthen their families and friends, they are reaching out to those in need and seeking personal revelation to bless the lives of others.  I just love that I get to work with the Young Women and their leaders.  It's no surprise to me that the Lord would choose them to be the face of his Sacrament meeting. 

With two missionaries out right now, I can't help but share a couple examples from their missions.  

The first one is when Bradley was in his second area in Peru called Moquegua.  This area had been closed for a while and Brad and his companion Elder Hoff were in charge of reopening it.  There wasn't a place for missionaries to live yet, so they were staying two miles outside of Moquegua, living in what he called "the closet" of some other Elders.  Their President put them in charge of finding their own place to live and someone to cook meals for them. They don't have meal cards in his mission, they have "pensions" or people who are paid to cook for the missionaries, so he didn't even have any money to buy food- he was just using his own personal funds for meals.  Which proved to be kind of challenging.  Then the ward situation was pretty crazy as well, the Bishop had basically gone inactive and the ward was barely getting by with very few attending church.  These two missionaries, sacrificing a lot of comforts of home, walking (sometimes running) up to 10 miles a day participated in the hastening of the Lord's work.  We loved hearing about their progress and looked forward to the week's numbers- how many were attending church that week and how many they were teaching.  They had developed a system to help the members reach out to family members and friends and were even bringing in new friends to church.  The numbers grew SO FAST! It was very exciting for all of us.  But more important than those numbers was hearing about the hearts.  The souls who were brought to Christ was even more astounding.  We loved hearing about the Bishop going back to church.  Brad's sweet testimony of the 11 year old boy he baptized and got to witness passing the sacrament for the first time, while thinking about his little brother, Jack who he was missing back here in Kaysville doing the same thing.  The generous sacrifice of a family who offered their newly finished second floor allowing Brad and Elder Hoff to live in their home, within the area, shortening their walking time each day significantly.  So many Peruvians' lives were changed for the better because of the Gospel.  And just as impressive to me as the growing numbers of that area, was seeing what this work did for Brad.  His first area had been a very difficult area.  Living conditions were new and hard, and he had a tough companion who he could barely communicate with.  He was not in a good place spiritually.  You would think that the stress of this new situation and the responsibility of reactivating almost an entire ward would have pushed him over the edge, but it did the opposite.  It gave him a fire that is still burning SO strong.  He felt the power of the Holy Ghost like he had never felt it before as he was teaching.  He experienced the gift of tongues with his new Spanish.  He learned how to pray and really listen.  He learned how to do the Lord's WORK!  Who knows how many more lives have been touched since then.  Exponential growth.

In Texas, Luke had a special experience teaching his friend, Sep.  We heard a lot about Sep and the process leading up to his baptism.  We got to see the pictures of Luke and his companion next to Sep in his white jumpsuit.  It was very exciting for all of us. Then a couple weeks ago, we received a picture of Luke's friend Sep in white shirt and tie. This time standing next to someone else who was wearing baptismal clothes, with the caption, "Sep got to help teach someone in Friendswood".  The man he and his companion taught and brought to the waters of baptism just weeks before, was able to help bring someone else.  This made Luke so happy.  It's just awesome.

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of witnessing my daughter, Kelly, being sealed to the man of her dreams.  The sealer was amazing and said so many inspired things that touched me knowing how much they would mean to Kelly.  She will love that I'm talking about this, but about two years ago, at the age of 20, we found out she had gone through menopause (among a plethora of other medical issues).  Those two years of painstaking effort ended in the devastating conclusion that she probably will not be able to have her own children.  The doctors are out of ideas.  With this in mind, the words, "multiply and replenish the earth" as they were kneeling across the altar, could have stung a little and admittedly did for me a bit, but Kelly and Devan felt differently.  They recognize that the Lord has a Plan for them.  They are unwavering in their faith and know that the Lord will provide the best circumstances for the outcome HE desires.  They are very hopeful and know that one way or another they will be parents.  I'm sure there are days that are heavy, but their testimonies are carrying them. Elder Rasband says: "I recognize that in the midst of the good news of the gospel, there are those who struggle, who have faith challenges, doubts, and questions that seem to have no answers. Brothers and sisters, Jesus Christ is the answer. Start with Him. Look for His hand in your life. Listen to Him. “Let not your heart be troubled,” He said in His last hours to His disciples before Gethsemane, before carrying His cross through the streets of Jerusalem, before Golgotha, where He completed His atoning sacrifice—what only He, the Begotten Son of God, could do." s

Elder Rasband encourages us to "stand tall as Christ's disciples, eyewitnesses of the fulfillment of prophecy, both ancient and modern."  Are there areas of our daily lives that we could stand taller?  Do we carry the majesty of this Work in our hearts, recognizing the power of the Holy Ghost and Christ's Church in the world and more specifically in individual hearts.  It's really incredible.  What can we do to participate in this work?  I challenge you to ask our Father your role in His Plan.  Ask Him to show you your unique gifts and the way you can help in the hastening. 

Elder Rasband also said, "Whatever is on your to-do list, give equal time, not spare time, to the Lord in personal scripture study, family study of Come, Follow Me, prayer, Church callings, ministering, partaking of the sacrament, worshipping in the temple, and pondering the things of God.  Our Lord and Savior has said, “Learn of me … and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” Take Him at His word. And give Him equal time."

Testimony

LUNCH WITH THE BARBARAS
I got to meet up (since they didn't pick me up like they said they would) with them at Kneaders on Monday for lunch.  I was really excited about this and it did not disappoint.  We had fun talking about everything.  They helped me with all my dumb little problems and they got to complain about the political issues they wanted.  It was great!  We need to make this a regular thing- I'm clicking subscribe and save :).  5-19-25

ERIKA'S LAST CONCERT
This was kind of sad realizing this is probably her last concert.  She did so good!  I've been so proud of her and her hard work to develop this talent.  She plays so well and loves it so much.  I wish she didn't have such a dumb teacher.  The concert was great- I loved her songs- even the middle one she said she didn't think we would like.  We got to go to Dylan's to celebrate and then took her back for the second half.  She did awesome!  5-19-25

FIELD DAY
Another field day has come and gone!  I still love it though!  I brought my canopy, then babysat Mrs. Lindsey's class while they got ready for the teacher's blow up costume race, watched that, then headed out to run the Plinko station.  This station was kind of lame.  Plinko with punishments instead of rewards.  Kelli Knapp and I made it a little more fun, turning it into a race, but with how lame the bubbles/bandaid holder awards were- it was difficult.  After that we had lunch.  It was then that I was trying to figure out how to help Kelly with their little dilemma in Cananda.  We had to fix some issues with Jack's pump also.  Then I went back for round two of field day but as a chaperone for Sadie's class.  This was pretty fun.  Also stressful.  There were a lot of tears, Zoie ran off, many trips to the bathroom- thankfully Jack was here to help with that a little.  Erika was there too, making it more fun- just laughing at all the drama.  We did the snowcones first, then the big slide, then some water fun and ANOTHER big slide.  After that it was all downhill.  I think it would have been better to go the other direction- do the lame stuff first.  Oh well.  We really should have ended a few rounds early, they were so done, but we stuck it out.  Mrs. Piper was hilarious.  "I'm so sorry you didn't get a bandaid holder" over the mic.  It was good it was time to go home.  I went out to get my canopy and go home, but ended up helping clean up a bit before I was able to take down the canopy.  Unfortunately, my hand got stuck in the canopy as we were folding it shut.  My helper ladies were pushing so hard and I was dying, so I asked them to pull back for a second.  When I was finally able to dislodge my skin from the pinched position it had been in too long, it was all white and gray!!  It  looked SO GROSS!!!  I got just the slightest wave of yuck when I looked at it, but tried to stay tough and not cry.  Thankfully, I was able to tell Erika, she helped me put the canopy in the bag and insisted on dragging it back to the car before I was able to burst into tears.  It was SO CRAZY!!  But we went home, the feeling came back after an intense burning sensation and all was well.  5-20-25

WALKING FIELD TRIP WITH MOLLY- GAILEY PARK
This ended up being a lot of fun.  Erika was already home for the summer so she came with us.  We walked over to Gailey Park where I tried to get Molly to go have fun.  She wasn't interested, but we did get to enjoy her company for most of it.  She did the tug of war and then sat and listened to me talk to my friends.  But it was pretty short.  We headed home kicking rocks through each other's legs as we walked.  I love spending time with Molly and love that she lets me.  5-21-25

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL
We did it!!  We survived Erika's last year of Junior High and Jack's first!  We survived Molly's 3rd grade and Sadie's kindergarten year!  It was a good one for the most part, but it's time for a break!  Last day was pretty normal.  I was able to hang out with my big kids most of the morning and then got some pictures of Molly and Mrs. Johnson after the flag ceremony.  Mrs. Piper was at her son's graduation so we didn't get one with her, but Sadie has only expressed how sad she is to leave Mrs. Piper and Caroline.  We'll see how next year goes!  5-22-25

SYRACUSE TEMPLE OPEN HOUSE
This was a fun kickoff to the summer.  We had to wait for ERika to do some slave labor for Mr. K for a better grade, but then we got all dressed up and made our way to the temple.  This was a really pretty temple!   We loved all the little daisies everywhere.  They were in every little detail.  I love being in the temple with our whole family.  It's fun that the littles can come.  We went to Moe's after and thought about Luke while we were there :).  5-23-25

DATE NIGHT
Second date night in two weeks, we were happy :).  We went to see the new Mission IMpossible movie- Final Reckoning.  Which we LOVED!  It was so good!  So intense!  Well, the first half hour was a little slow.  I was starting to be disappointed, but the rest did NOT disappoint!!  I'm sad if this is the last one.  After the movie we went to Applebee's and raved about the movie :).  Good times.  5-23-25

SO PRODUCTIVE
I hope this Saturday was a symbol of how productive this summer might be :).  We got so much done!  We cleaned up the game room- which was full of Kelly and Devan's gifts, toys, bugs, and more bugs.  We brought in the furniture Bro. Hedin donated to Bradley and set up that half of the room for him. I think it looks pretty good. We took a trailer full of game room stuff and bags of clothes and toys that have been in the garage for almost a year to the D.I. and then to the dump for the pool table top.  Then Erika, Molly and I moved a lot of the games up to the bookshelves and the books down to the game shelves.  It was a lot of work!  But so nice to have it done!  5-24-25

MEMORIAL DAY
We were not able to convince ourselves that we wanted to get up at 7:30 for the family graves and breakfast, which I'm sad about.  Noah could have, he was up running around getting ready for his camping trip!  He and a bunch of his friends went down to Moab to camp together.  I was so proud of him and the planning it took to pull that off!!  Very cool.  He left around 9:00 and we did manage to drag ourselves up to the church for a ward breakfast.  This ended up being pretty fun.  I sat by Tammy and then Margie joined us.  I got to talk to Emily and Barbara Farnes.  The kids got to play kickball most of the time so that was fun for them!  I was glad we had the ball in the car.  After the breakfast, we all did our jobs singing and dancing around to music.  Then we met up with Grandpa at Nana's grave!  This ended up being a really nice time.  We were able to sit down on the grass and eat M&Ms while we chatted.  Kinda nice.  AFter that, we came home to finish the house but ended up playing board games and sitting around.  Charity and Hunter showed up so we made a quick- like literally nine minutes- trip to the Red Balloon store- it was closing.  That was fun.  Jack found some money in a corner of his account and bought some new legos :).  Then we came home and got ready for the Barbecue that I had planned the night before :).  The bbq was fun, we had Grandpa come along with Charity and Hunter.  We roasted hotdogs and ate ribs and my yummy Ramen salad with some fruit.  It was perfect!  Then we played Viking Chess for the rest of the evening.  Pretty fun!  I thought it was a great day!  5-26-25

MOON PARK
We had to get out- it was getting kind of harry here, we'd played all the board games we could play and it was time to get some Vitamin D and pretzel bites.  So we got ourselves out the door and picked up some gluten free muffins for Jack, then Pretzel bites for everyone else and then Moon Park to play.  It was fun to listen to everyone getting along- it's a different dynamic with Noah gone.  But lots of fun still.  5-27-25

MANGO STICKY RICE WITH CHRISTIE
This was a nice little outing.  We FINALLY went and got some Mango Sticky Rice.  Christie is the best and I loved talking to her.  We need to do this more often.  5-27-25

LUNCH WITH JULIE
I finally got to see Julie!!  We met up at El Habanero in Magna for some Mexican.  It was so great to visit with her.  We had lots to catch up on!!  I love Julie- always love being with her!!  5-28-25

DATE WITH MOLLY
Molly and I got to go on our date Wednesday.  WE went and saw the movie Lilo and Stitch- live action.  I was a little nervous about how this movie would be, but I was pleasantly surprised.  5-28-25

LUNCH WITH STEPHANI WOLSEY
This was a highlight this week, even though I went out to lunch too much.  We met up at her house, walked over to Orlandos and talked constantly with no silence for a good two hours.  One of the cool parts was being able to introduce Stephanie to Richelle Pearce.  They are both so crucial in our survival with Jack's diabetes it was cool to have them collide.  While we were eating, the waitress brought Stephanie and I a plate of Strawberry Nachos and said it was from another patron.  Gee, I wonder who :).  Richelle and Jeff along with the Nyes (I think), had ordered it for us- so generous!!  Very fun and very yummy!  It made me think of Molly and now I want to go take her to have some.  Stephanie is an angel.  I am so lucky to have her in my life.  I am starting to think that the reason I was ever acquainted with LIndsay Lauder was so that I could connect with Stephanie now.  Very cool.  5-29-25

MINISTERING My new partner Rebekah Flindt was feeling really motivated to do our ministering and so I sent out a message to our people, Lyndsee Harper and Marianne Barth and we were able to schedule visits.  Both on Thursday night.  I really enjoyed talking with Lyndsee.  She is really sweet and easy to get along with.  Rebekah was hilarious here, and brought up some tough subjects- Utah Mormons being one of them.  But we had a nice time talking and getting eaten by mosquitos.  Marianne was nice to see as well.  I really get to see her a lot with all the hair stuff, but it was a nice change of pace to have Rebekah there and talk the way we did.  I am happy when I do my ministering.  I need to remember that.  5-29-25

APRIL 2025

KELLY BRIDALS
This was a really special day!  Kelly and I drove down to the Capitol building in a blizzard!  I guess I should go back- Kelly had scheduled her pictures for the 3rd, but once we planned Yellowstone, we didn't want to have to compete with that, so I asked her (and paid for) to move it to the 1st.  Well mother nature pulled a little April Fool's joke on her and made it SNOW!!  In April!  I mean, we've seen real snow in April before, but this was really in the middle of a lot of sunny days!  So it was such a surprise.  Kelly had wanted to get some photos with the cherry blossoms out on the grounds of the capitol building.  We were trying to stay positive all the way there and hopeful that we could still get some, even some outside, good shots of her and Devan, regardless of the weather.  So we pulled up to the capitol, Mandy was there, having walked up after parking and then offered to park my car also- super nice!- so I could go in with Kelly.  We got in, made our way up to the spot Kelly had chosen for their "first look" pictures.  Devan and the photographer were waiting.  This was so neat!  I loved being there for this and seeing these two enjoying each other.  Kelly looked amazing!!  They were so cute the whole time, posing for all their pictures, nobody complained, they just had so much fun and made it such a pleasant experience.  I loved it.  Mandy and I got to talk a little which was also fun even though she was feeling really horrible I guess.  We made our way outside and got some amazing pictures in the snowy spring.  BEAUTIFUL cherry blossom pictures, with all white sky and background!  Nobody would ever be able to recreate these!  They were so perfect!!  I loved how they all turned out!!  Kelly's feet had to be freezing though!  Poor girl.  4-1-25

YELLOWSTONE 2025
This was kind of a funny trip.  By the time we went we knew that Yellowstone was not going to be open which was a huge bummer, but we'd gotten such a great deal from Ruth on the rooms, we couldn't change it.  We decided to just make the most of it, and I really think we did.  We had a nice ride up there.  We stopped in Idaho Falls to go to Chillis with the Idaho Mayneses which was fun for everyone except Jack.  He doesn't love eating out and he had gotten so hungry that he was in a really bad mood.  He basically just laid his head down the whole time til Nate was able to get him to eat.  Poor guy.  But we had fun with Rob, Heather and Hannah.  Good times.  We got up to the resort in West Yellowstone with plenty of time for dinner and swimming.  Everyone was happy.  We had two rooms while we were there, one for all the girls and one for all the boys and mom.  It was tricky to figure that all out, but that was how it worked best.  The girls were down the hall from us which wasn't super convenient, but we made do.  We were able to go exploring a little while we were up there, took a little drive where we saw some buffalo and had a little snowball fight- yet still snowy.  We walked through the little town, hitting the few gift shops that were open.  Felt a little like a ghost town except that a few stores were setting up for the big season in a few weeks.  We spent a lot of time swimming, laying around watching General Conference in our room, hot tubbing for some of us and at the Grizzly World (or whatever it was called).  We got passes that worked for two days so we went twice.  The bears were so fun to watch!  And they were so much more active the second day.  Noah got lots of pictures of them, which was super fun.  We saw otters which the girls loved- one was chewing on it's tail.  Wolves were cool- not super active, but cool to see.  And LOTS of ravens.  We really did have a lot of fun though.  I was pleasantly surprised.  I had my moment where I overthought about how this trip could be perceived as really lame, especially to the newbies, but it was fine- I worked out of it.  We had some really special study time moments talking about what Jesus would tell Heavenly Father as our advocate.  And played some rousing rounds of four on the couch.  Got a little tense at times.  We survived.  And really, 11 people crammed into 2 rooms for fourish days--- we did awesome :).  I did my questionnaire on the way home.  We did the thing where we have everyone pick a question:

Nate: What is your favorite restaurant?

Nate- Blue Fin

Me- The Habit

Hunter- Cheesecake Factory

Charity- Chick-fil-a

Devan- Hip Hop Chicken
Kelly- Pizza, Buffalo Wild Wings, Olive Garden

Noah- B dubs

Erika- Zupas

Jack- The Habit

Molly- Ihop and The Habit and Dylans

Sadie- Carl's Jr

Me: What's one thing you want to accomplish in the next year?

Nate- Read every book of scripture all the way thru

Me- workout everyday for a while month

Hunter- Jujitsu group

Charity- do a pull-up

Devan- go on lots of fun adventures and have fun with Kelly
Kelly- be a good wife and learn the job in AK and work hard at it

Noah- Sub 16 hurdle time

Erika- make the high school basketball team

Jack- perfect A1c

Molly- make friends on my soccer team and learn to save money

Sadie- be a flower girl and do my tithing

Hunter: If you could go anywhere in the world where would you go?

Nate- Sweden

Me- Australia

Hunter- Greece

Charity- Greece

Devan- Europe

Kelly- Amsterdam

Noah- Alaska Cape Town South Africa

Erika- Norway

Jack- Back in Time

Molly- Australia Peru Alaska

Sadie- Florida

Charity: IF you could be any animal what would you be?

Nate- perigrene falcon

Me- Penguin

Hunter- Cheetah

Charity- orca

Devan- Bald eagle

Kelly- panda

Noah- elephant

Erika- orca

Jack- dinosaur

Molly- horse or wolf

Sadie- koala and giraffe

Devan: What is your biggest pet peeve?

Nate- Laziness

me- people calling adult kids "kiddos"

Hunter- when people don't offer him their leftover

Charity- when people say something mean and say it's a joke

Devan- Slow drivers or people that don't walk straight

Kelly- when people cheat in games

Noah- When people ask if I'm okay, fake people

Erika- when people ask how you're doing and don't listen to your answer, loud chewing

Jack- diabetes stuff

Molly- when people know what bugs me and do it

Sadie- when people eat something in a room and don't wash it

Kelly: Which Disney/Pixar movie would you choose to be in?

Nate- finding Nemo

me- brave little toaster

Hunter- Brother Bear- throwing spears

Charity- Inside Out

Devan- Star Wars

Kelly- Bug's Life

Noah- How to train your Dragon

Erika- Cars

Jack- Spider Man

Molly- Tinkerbell, The Little Mermaid or Bluey

Sadie- Tinkerbell

Noah: What is your favorite kind of tree?

Nate- Bonzai

Me- Oak Tree

Hunter- Red Oak

Charity- Willow

Devan- Dark Oak

Kelly- Redwood
Noah- bush tree, mystree

Erika- Willow

Jack- Oak tree

Molly- Cherry blossom

Sadie- Drooping tree where the leaves are down

Erika: if you could have any car what would you choose?

Nate- truck

me- Lambourghini

Hunter- dodge challenger

Charity- Forerunner

Devan- Ram Trx

Kelly- Time travel car- delorian from bttf

Noah- school bus

Erika- cool truck

Jack- truck

Molly- dream house car

Sadie- ice cream truck

Jack: What dinosaur would you be?

Nate- triceratops

Me- mosasaurus

Hunter- stegosaurus

Charity- brontosaurus

Devan- Raptor

Kelly- triceratops that befriends raptors

Noah- pteranodon

Erika- pterodactyl

Jack- T Rex

Molly- Long neck, triceratops or blue

Sadie- pterydactyl

Molly: What is your favorite animal seen on this trip?

Nate- wolf

me- bison

Hunter- bears

Charity- otters

Devan- fish

Kelly- grizzly bear or otter sucking his tail

Noah- bison

Erika- bison

Jack- wolves

Molly- all of them

Sadie- turtles

Sadie: What is your favorite kind of weather?
Nate- cool summer morning

me- fall rain

Hunter- sunny

Charity- summer rain

Devan- warm rain

Kelly- lightning storms

Noah- sun but not super hot but like fall sun when it's fall and there's sun, wait change mine to acid rain

Erika- sunny rain

Jack- sunny

Molly- warm actually magic weather

Sadie- raining hard

What was your most memorable moment of the trip?

Kelly- snowball fight on the sid eof the road and icicle hunting

Charity- opening the door and taking pictures of the buffalo as we drove past

Nate- study time Sunday night

me- swimming and the bears

Devan- Four on the couch when me and Noah were crashing out, and fishing

Noah- fishing or when we were driving thru the bison taking pictures, when Molly let me go swimming with her

Erika- looking at the bison

Hunter- when Kelly threw a snowball at Charity's crotch

Jack- seeing the buffalo

Sadie- when Noah put Erika's phone in his pants and when we were panicking

Molly- everything

ERIKA SET APART FOR STAKE YOUTH COUNCIL

They finally did it!!  We're so proud of Erika and her willingness to accept this calling.  She's going to be awesome.  She had her first meeting also and it did not disappoint- wink wink-- kinda funny.  She's going to be great!  4-13-25

NOAH NEURO-PSYCH EXAM

This was pretty fun :).  Noah got to play with blocks, look at pictures and memorize lists while I sat in the waiting room listening to the Saints Book.  He did great!!  One more day of it.  4-14-25

TRACK

Our track season for both Noah and Erika has been amazing!!  I'm so far behind on my blog that I cannot update on specific meets and times and stuff which is a huge bummer!!  But they've been doing so great!!  They've had lots of support from grandma and Simon, me and Nate and even Kelly and Devan :).  Fun stuff!  4-15-25

CULTURAL NIGHT
This ended up being really cool!  We got to see so much talent and everything pointing to Christ!  I actually really loved it.  I hope we do it again sometime.  Erika had played her cello with a few other string instruments and it was compiled together to be played as one song and it was cool, but would have been better if we'd been able to just listen to them all play!  But very cool.  4-16-25

MOLLY'S 3rd GRADE PROGRAM

Molly was so cute in her program!  Did her part perfectly!  She knew all the songs and sang her little heart out.  I really enjoyed this one- lots of fun songs!! 4-17-25

PAIN

Erika found herself in an excruciating amount of pain this weekend.  She did NOT feel well for most of the evening Friday night.  She had a moment that felt especially awful, but the pain did not go away.  She played her game in the morning, but all afternoon was just writhing.  The poor girl.  

DAVIS INVITE

This was a big deal this year!  Nate had volunteered to cook the meat for the sponsors this year! BIG JOB!!  Then he decided he wanted to try selling sandwiches outside of the entrance as well.  So he was VERY busy, running around getting things done.  With a big smile on his face.  I know because I was sitting across the way in the ticket booth watching him work.  He did awesome.  It was a crazy busy day but we survived!  That night was Kelly's Bachelorette party!  I'd give details but I wasn't invited :).  4-19-25

ER FOR ERIKA

Once we were done with selling meat and the ticket booth on Saturday, I'd had enough of Erika's pain and decided to take her to the Urgent Care.  They did some tests and then decided she needed to go to the ER.  We walked over there, they ran some more of the same tests, plus an ultrasound (that they call three ultrasounds, the weirdos).  They were able to determine that it wasn't her appendix or gallbladder but that she'd had an ovary that burst.  There was a lot of fluid floating around so they told her she'd be in pain for a while.  This was a huge understatement.  About a month later and she's still having off days with pain.  Poor thing.  4-19-25

EASTER SUNDAY!

I really wanted to do Easter baskets and stuff on Saturday, but it just didn't work out with soccer games and Davis Invite.  So we did it all on Sunday.  Charity and Hunter slept over.  Kelly was here.  We did creamed eggs on toast.  It was a good day.  I was trying to make it more Christ centered so I assigned everyone to come prepared ot share something or an activity or something about Christ.  I think it went pretty well.  4-20-25

ERIKA ON VARSITY
Erika was picked to dress and play on Varsity this week, the same game that Kelly had volunteered to announce!  This was so cool!  So after a huge lead, Devin put her in the game and seconds later, SHE SCORED!!!  It was so much fun!!  Kelly got to announce her first shot/score on the Varsity team!  Very cool stuff.  Erika played awesome in that game and in the next one!  So proud of her!  4-22-25

SETTING UP THE CANOPY

I wasn't there, and I didn't help at all, but it took them like five hours so I had to document that Nate, Kelly and Devan all set up the canopy!  Not the arrangement we'd signed up for, but they did it!!  It looked AMAZING!!  4-23-25

SADIE KINDERGARTEN PROGRAM

It was a tough decision, but I decided I needed to be with Kelly on her wedding morning, getting all ready.  So I chose to go to Sadie's program the morning before, during the assembly performance of it.  This was SO FUN!!  I had Jack, Erika and Kelly with me, we all LOVED Sadie's performance!  She did so good!  She knew all the words and got so into all the fun actions- it was so much fun!!  Her beautiful smile and saying her part perfectly!  I loved it!!  I was so glad I got to see her!  She did amazing.  4-24-25

FLOWERS

We went down to Trader Joes after Sadie's performance and got all the pretty yellow, white and green flowers we could find.  We even ran into Mandy while we were there :).  Then we went to the D I for some vases, ran into Mandy there as well :).  Then that evening after Erika's game, we all put together the centerpieces.  It was actually so much fun!!  They weren't professional by any stretch of the imagination, but it was so fun doing it.  Sierra, Matt and Meg and Chris were here to keep us company and help take things up to the Church which was so nice.  We had taken a lot of it the day before, which was so good, but still a lot to take up there.  We were waiting for the go ahead from the Samoan/Mexican wedding that they were done and once we got the word we were up there.  Unfortunately, it felt like we kicked them out!  But it was a LOT of work!  We ended up cleaning up after their reception, moving all the tables and chairs to one side of the room to mop and then back to the other side to mop the other half of the gym.  SO much work!  We finished cleaning up their stuff and then started on ours.  We had help from the Brenchley's and bridesmaids, and then Sarah Laramore and Barbara Noriega as well.  Our one sad moment was when Kelly's mirror fell off the easel and cracked.  She was so sad!  It was really heartbreaking.  Luckily we found one on Walmart really quickly and we'd basically solved the problem minutes after it happened.  She just needed to write on the new one sometime tomorrow :).  But it all looked so good! So awesome!  We really couldn't have done it without them all.  We were all SO pleased with how it turned out though and very excited for the next day!  I think we got home around 1:30am!!  SO crazy.  4-25-25

KELLY AND DEVAN'S WEDDING DAY

This day can only be summed up as perfect!  It went SO WELL.  I have said that so many times and it is so true.  We only had a few tiny hang ups.  Kelly was just giddy getting ready.  She was bouncing around reminding everyone that she is getting married today!  So fun!  I had been trying to figure out how to do a video with their kid pictures and the ones Devan had given me were way too small so it wasn't working at all.  I feel bad that I was working on that quite a bit that morning, but luckily, I finally moved on and we made do without.  But it was cute to see Kelly bouncing around, so happy.  She passed around notes to everyone, gave me a sweet gift, and was just a little ray of sunshine.  As we were walking out the door to make it to the temple on time, Jack announced that he was almost out of insulin.  We paused, reloaded his pump, and THEN left for the temple.  We got there a few minutes late, but it was okay.  I got a little anxious at this point and needed some calming, said a prayer and seconds later Lynn was sitting by me, laughing and talking about kids and this crazy job as parents.  It was nice.  Then I ran into Debbie McColley who gave me the warmest hug.  It was great.  I was calmed down.  Things moved very slowly after this, which was SO nice.  The temple workers are so amazing.  They led us to the Bride's dressing room, Kelly and I got to talk and laugh as she got ready.  We loved that the temple worker informed her that she "chose right!" when she saw she was wearing her temple dress for the sealing.  So cute.  Then we split up again.  I got to go in and talk with family waiting in the waiting room.  I got to talk with Maddie, Becky and Jen, then Brent and Sarah came in and I got the biggest hug from Brent- that was nice.  I got to introduce him to Devan's parents.  It was such a calm, peaceful wait.  I loved it!  We paused for a minute waiting for a couple family members on Devan's side, but then we were escorted to the sealing room.  I LOVED this part!!  Nate sat down next to me, just cuz there was a chair there, we both thought they'd make him go back to the witness seats, but they never did!  Which was SO awesome.  We got to sit there holding hands and loving the moment together.  I had to whisper to Nate, "How did we get here?"  It feels like just yesterday Nate and I were sitting in the hallway of the Salt Lake temple, outside the 2C sealing room, telling our sealer what we loved about each other, then sitting on the couch in a pool of my tears before kneeling across the alter together.  Those are some of my most cherished memories.  They are so vivid still.  And yet, here we are.  Sitting next to the couch/pool of Kelly's tears, watching her making the Everlasting Covenant of marriage with the Lord and Devan.  So cool.  I really loved it.  COuldn't believe it is here already, but I definitely loved it!!  Their sealing was amazing.  I loved that the sealer talked about the Initiatory blessings and Heavenly Mother (things Kelly and I had been talking about on the way to the temple! that were very important to her).  It was hard when he talked about "multiplying and replenishing the earth" just knowing the hard road they might have ahead on this matter, but also knowing that they are tough and are geared up and ready for that challenge.  Everything about their sealing was so wonderful.  I loved it.  At the end, Nate nad I were talking and found out the same line had stood out to both of us about "presiding in gentleness", which I thought was interesting.  We got to hug them a few times, everyone walked by and hugged and congratulated, it was so fun.  Then I got to go back to the Bride's dressing room with Kelly and help her get in her wedding dress and touch up her makeup and hair.  This was so awesome also.  I loved it.  It was fun to come out to the large group of Kelly and Devan supporters/family waiting for them.  I was handed a sick, feverish Sadie, which caught me off guard and was really the only challenge we faced that day, but we carried on with the grand exit, pictures, and more pictures just fine.  Sweet Aunt Jen offered to get some medicine for Sadie (and of course took some orders for a toy pony for Sadie and some candy for Jack).  We met up with her at the luncheon.  Kelly and Devan were only 20 minutes late :).  We ate the delicious Cafe Rio food and enjoyed visiting with everyone.  This was a really nice relaxing part of the day, no pressured speeches or anything, just sitting and eating.  We were anxious for our part of the evening, but this was a highlight.  After the luncheon we hurried home for the food and things to finish setting up the reception.  We got up there, got things done- thanks to lots of helpers- Sarah Laramore, Barbara Noriega, Suzanne Blanketship, Cathie Nybo, Krista Johnson, who am I forgetting?- and it was all ready to go when Kelly and Devan got there at 6:00!  I had kind of maxed out and had promised Sadie some cuddle time, so we made our way to the far foyer couch and cuddled for a while.  My dad joined us and it was fun talking with him about how awesome Kelly and Devan are and what a great day this was for them.  I loved that.  I was pretty prepared to just sit there all night and might have enjoyed that enough, but thankfully, Paige came and got me because, "Someone needed to see me".  She didn't say who or how I would know them, but when I got in the gym it was Mrs. Ashliman!!  I was so happy she had shown up and that she'd requested to see me!  I got to talk to her for a while.  SO cool that she would come- it's been over a decade!!  That's just too cool.  By then I was in the room.  I may as well make the rounds a little.  Sadie was asleep on the couch all comfy.  I got to talk with Nancy a little, then Kim Ball!! Then Courtney!!!  The wardies made it- I got to talk to Shelly Last and Margie.  It was so fun!  I only wish I'd been able to talk shorter with people so that I could have said hi to more people?  I don't know.  Seemed like things went really fast because all of a sudden we were doing the shoe game, cutting the cake and throwing the bouquet!  Then the dance party started!  This was a LOT of fun.  The Ritchies showed up.  So amy good things!!  I really loved their reception.  I was exhausted of course, but I really loved it!!  The cake was to die for!!  I did get a slice of that.  We ahd pulled pork sliders, baked potato bar, pineapple, caesar salad, and lots of dessert bars!  Apparently we did really good on amounts of everything.  There was enough food/leftovers, but not so much leftover that we didn't know what to do with it.  So that was awesome.  Nate did great on the meat.  We had our exciting send off with the sparklers.  Took some coordinating while we waited for the newlyweds, but worked out SO WELL!!  I couldn't believe it!  It was so cute when she got in the car with her "HUSBAND" and less cute when they drove off.  Kinda sad really.  But I am so happy for them.  They are going to have a beautiful life together.  They left for their stay up in Ogden.  We stayed and cleaned up for a VERY long time.  I think we got home around 10:00 though, so that was good.  4-25-25