November 2025

MOLLY'S FIRST BASKETBALL GAME AND FOUR POINTS!
We were all pretty anxious for Molly's game this Saturday.  So many basketball lovers who also love Molly and wanted to support her- she was pretty nervous since she "doesn't know how to play".  So she had a pretty big cheering section which was a lot of fun.  We were happy to be able to watch her play but didn't realize just what a treat we were in for!!  She did SO WELL!!!  She made all four of the points her team got.  They won by two.  She looked so good out there.  Stealing, dribbling so well, and helping her teammates out.  So fun!!  Brad, Noah and Erika were all beaming!!  As well as her dad/coach :).  We can't wait for the rest of the games! 11-1-25

 ADULT SESSION OF STAKE CONFERENCE
We had a really awesome adult session.  I really liked it.  This conference was right before the stake realignment, so most of the talks the next day were about that and it didn't really apply to us as much, so that was almost annoying.  But the Saturday session was SO GREAT!!  I loved it.  They had the Watts who are serving in the Transition Branch in West Jordan with all the people who are in between prison and life (or who simply cannot go to regular wards because of the crimes they committed).  They gave such interesting talks!!  The wife read off several things they have read from their journals or just said in their testimonies over the pulpit and that was really interesting.  They had some really cool thoughts.  Very remorseful and humble for most of them.  But also feelings of healing and renewal.  It's crazy how the atonement works even on really bad things.  They talked about how they cannot take the sacrament, so they don't do the sacrament in their "worship service", but they've asked if they can read the prayer, so they do read the prayer every week.  Very cool.  Makes me realize what a blessing it is and what a gift being able to take the Sacrament is.  I hope I am always worthy of that blessing.  They talked about how we have covenanted to bear one another's burdens and pointed out that that doesn't just include the burdens that accidentally fall upon us, but the ones we cause ourselves.  Those criminals deserve to be mourned with and that is part of our covenant.  So interesting.  There was another talk from a woman who had been divorced.  I really liked her talk as well.  I think she talked about forgiveness.  It's weird because I was staring right at Pres. Larsen (Brad was with me and chose the second row on the left side of the chapel :) ), and I kept thinking about the things I keep trying to forgive him of.  It's been a road for sure.  But I think it's okay to just keep forgiving when it comes to my mind.  I don't have as much control about how often I think about it, I can control how LONG I think about it, or who I talk to about it too much, but I don't have control about when it pops in my head, so I need to use my agency to control what I do with those thoughts and I think it's perfectly fine to just keep forgiving him every time.  It was a good meeting.  I wish Nate had been there.  11-1-25

STAKE CONFERENCE
I got to go to the training meeting in the morning with Nate and Brad.  It was mostly about the wards realigning.  So kinda lame.  Then the general meeting with the kids.  That one was also very focused on the changing wards.  We were glad our ward wasn't changing at all, but it was kind of boring to hear about it all.  I liked a lot of the talks though!  So many good things.  I like that we have our spot on the stage now :).  I think it's been a few times now.  The kids did great.  Nate had to get to work, so he only stayed for a few minutes of the realignment meeting, then took the kids home.  I stayed so I could give hugs after.  It was a crazy shift with new ward names and everything.  I almost think our ward could have used a little shake up, but I also don't want to have to go through another split.  Should be interesting to see how this goes for all the young women presidencies.  11-2-25

NO MORE PLASTIC AND ZIPPERS!
They okayed our leak mess Monday!  Took down all the plastic and got rid of all the fans!  It felt so quiet all day.  We learned that we will might get to remodel some of the spaces in our house and that we have a ton of money in the bank at the moment, so that's kinda nice!  Since we're in a shut down and have missed about three paychecks.  Heavenly Father finds the coolest ways to bless us.  I like it.  11-3-25

APPLE SUPPORT
I had called Apple the other day to fix my phone, it's been crapping out on me because it's full, and they were not able to help me on the phone.  I finally made the appointment on Thursday and got in there to Restore it.  The guys there were super nice and fixed it so fast!!  I was so happy!  It is now only using about 30%.  So that's nice.  And it feels almost like a new phone, still getting used to that.  HOpefully those guys were wrong and I can keep using my phone past January.  We'll see.  11-6-25

DEVAN'S BIRTHDAY
We got to see Kelly and Devan for a few minutes on his birthday- that was fun.  I can't remember why.  But then Friday I spent a lot of the day making his Tron cake :).  Kelly had requested it and designed one on ChatGPT.  I don't think I'll ever allow a fake design again, but it turned out pretty good if I do say so myself.  I only wish I could figure out how to prevent that marbling when I freeze the cake.  It was really marbley and frosty for some reason.  Kind of a bummer.  We went over to the Brenchley's Friday night for some cake and ice cream and games.  I was shocked at how similarly they celebrate birthdays as us.  Kinda cool for Kelly and Devan I guess.  They do bunt cakes though, so we just looked at the Tron one :).  We had so much fun playing all the games- the Name one and then Psychiatrist.  Pretty fun stuff.  Happy Birthday, Devan!  11-7-25

CRAWL SPACE AND EXTRA ROOMISH
I finally did it!!  I bent over and reorganized the crawl space!!  It was well overdue.  Molly helped a little til we found some boxes with clothes for her and Sadie.  My knees and back are not happy about things, but 2 and a half hours later I was bringing up the garbage bag.  It's not completely done- we need to go through the totes of toys to find out what we want to do with them, but it's organized at least.  I had no idea we had left some games down there and even less idea that the kids had just dumped some of them out into the room.  That was annoying.  But we're getting closer.  11-8-25

TESTIMONIES
We had our first testimony meeting since Elder Bednar suggesting just bearing a pure, simple testimony.  I was planning on it after my training meeting and then I heard that Bishop had encouraged all of Ward Council to do the same and so the first five or so testimonies (including Nate's) were JUST testimonies!  Nothing extra.  It was SO INCREDIBLE!!  The Spirit was SO STRONG!!  Sadie and Molly both closed up their coloring books and just wanted to listen- they were totally feeling the spirit.  Brad, Erika and Noah all got up as well and did the same- they had spaced theirs out a little which was cool because there were some extra ones in between that totally changed the vibe, kind of disappointing, but this was a really neat experience.  I hope we can have that again soon.  11-9-25

PREP FOR LIFE- EMIL HARKER
We went against what the youth had chosen in our council and got Martha's therapist to come speak to them.  It ended up being SO AMAZING!!  I was so glad we had that right before Erika's tryouts.  She's been getting really stressed and full of anxiousness lately and this just hit the spot.  He taught us about LIFT- Living in faith today.  He taught that if you are following the laws, you will be happy- just like if you follow the laws of nature you can create lift.  It's as simple as that.  Looking in the great and spacious building is not where you will find happiness.  Then he talked about how if a thought is not PSE- Positive, Supportive or Encouraging, that it is coming from the devil.  He taught how to change those thoughts and make them PSE.  I loved that.  All the negative things we think about ourselves and the things that bring us down are from satan.  Don't listen to them.  I liked how he said to schedule the life that other people would want to live.  Very interesting and "Be your own butler".  Catching things ahead of time and being prepared for what's to come- very cool.  He said the way to overcome anxiety is to take time each night to plan out tomorrow.  Think through everything you have to do that day, feeling good and happy through all of it and just basking in the good that you will feel and then praying to Heavenly Father to help you feel the way you felt as you were imagining it.  I LOVED this!! Just a really good message the whole thing.  I really loved it!  The kids seemed to really love the rolls too!  They were a huge hit!  I couldn't believe Christa wanted to get 144 rolls for our 30ish (that's what we had been getting) kids.  But there were almost 50 kids this time and they all ate a LOT- 143 rolls to be exact!!  So crazy!  Fun time.  11-9-25

MONDAY
I planned out my day last night and it has been SO PRODUCTIVE!!  It's been really nice.  I haven't done everything exactly how I planned, but pretty close!  It's been awesome though!  I really need to do this everyday!  This week was a good one to do this on cuz it's packed!!  It's been a great day so far though!  11-10-25

LUNCH WITH BECKY
Becky invited me over for some lunch and chatting.  It was such a good time.  I always love spending time with Becky but this was extra special for some reason.  She got us Firehouse subs.  It was just a really nice time.  I hope I always remember it.  11-11-25

ERIKA FAMILY PARTY
We just had Erika's party here at home in our torn apart house.  Grandpa Hatch, Grandma Hatch and Simon came.  It was a pretty chill party.  We didn't do much.  Erika chose to have an ice cream cake.  It was a pretty good time :).  Erika was waiting to hear back about tryouts for the basketball team the whole time, which I felt a little bad she had to stress about that at the same time as her party.  But she found out she made the team, just not which team until the next day, but she was relieved :).  11-11-25

DATE WITH NOAH
Noah and I went to Chick-fil-a for our date this time.  We had a good time.  I sure love Noah.  He is a great kid and has such a future ahead.  I really can't wait to see what this kid does.  He is a blessing in my life.  11-12-25

MOLLY THE WHO!!!  IN SEUSSICAL JUNIOR
Molly did such an amazing job in her musical!!  We were all so proud of her!!  Everyone got to see it, so she had people to watch and cheer her name really loudly at every show!  She knew the words to every song, all the actions perfectly, she looked so great up there with her hair and makeup just so :).  I think she may have even had some fun.  We all loved watching her get into it and being part of the project she has worked on SO HARD this past couple months.  She did amazing!!  We love Molly!  11-13-25--11-15-25

CONCESSIONS
It came!  We had Seussical and did the concession stand for all three nights.  This year was a lot smoother than past years, it almost felt like we had fewer customers.  Some of the cool things we sold were inflatable monkeys- which didn't really sell until Molly sent one to her friend Jayne who said her mom doesn't send candy grams to her ever :).  Then they were a big hit.  I made some Cat in the Hat cakes- small mini loaf cakes with red and white stripes, super cute- they all sold out.  We had bags of green eggs- square pretzels with a white chocolate melt and green plain m&ms on them- people loved those!  I sold some jungle animal stuffy keychains, some "clover" pens and feather pens.  I thought we did a great job!  They did the volunteers a little differently this year, three ladies for each cast and they were all there every showing of the opposite cast.  So they were not brand new helpers every night.  I liked this so much better!  I hope they do that again.  If I do concessions again.  We had all the usual candy, popcorn, roses.  I had Erika's help a couple of the shows, Molly was usually there helping.  Noah and Nate and Brad helped haul everything in and out and Jack was there a few times.  It was a successful week!  I actually kind of like doing it.  I'm not sure why.  But hopefully they let me do it again.  11-13-25--11-15-25

MISSIONARY MOM BREAKFAST
We did a breakfast instead of lunch this time.  We went to Kneaders.  It was a nice time, just Emily, Cathie, Shar and I.  11-14-25

ERIKA'S DRIVER'S LICENSE!!!
This was very exciting!  Erika passed her test the day before- even with Agnello!!  I was so glad she was able to chat with him about Track and Nate doing the meat for Davis Invite and all the other things they were able to talk about.  She did a great job!!  I checked her out for lunch and we went and got her driver's license and then some lunch.  It was so great!  She's a driver now!!  11-14-25

ERIKA'S FRIEND PARTY
We had to race out of the Elementary school from the last performance and our mad dash to clean up concessions and hurried home for Erika's friend party!  This was so much fun!!  Erika had about 15 friends meet up here at our house, we drove everyone (all of us except Jack and Noah) in four cars down to The Call Tower.  Chris was SO NICE to meet up with us there and host us.  The kids all had a blast!!  I loved watching Easton golfing the whole time- haha!  Kate spent a lot of time playing with Sadie on the ping pong table.  The kids loved having ice cream sundaes and were so enthusiastic singing happy birthday.  I think Erika had a good time, which was all that really mattered to me.  I loved being part of it all with her.  11-15-25

PRIMARY MISSIONARY ACTIVITY
The girls (well, and Brad, Nate and Jack) LOVED this activity!!  The Primary leaders did an amazing job!  MIssion calls, Molly got called to South Korea, Sadie got called to Australia.  Brad got to teach some things about Peru and Preach My Gospel.  It was great!  I wish I could have seen it, but everyone loved it.  11-18-25

DINNER WITH CLAIRE
WHile everyone was at the Primary activity, Claire and I went out.  We decided to try this new place called Nacho Daddy.  The atmosphere sucked.  The music was too loud, they put us under a tv with trashy music videos, everyone there was from the abc club and had piercings, tattoos or colored hair or all three.  We probably looked like we fit in almost.  I got Enchilada nachos which were AMAZING!!  But I don't think I'd ever go back there.  Maybe to go.  But Claire and I got to talk- that was nice.  She's such a great friend.  We need to get together when she can bring her dog soon.  11-18-25

DR. KAREN BRADLEY
This was a MUCH anticipated appointment for me.  We talked all about my perimenopause symptoms.  I will be going on estrogen, progesterone, and some physical therapy.  Should be good- we will see.  11-19-25

LUNCH WITH PAPPY
Does it seem like I go out to eat a lot?  I think that's fairly accurate.  I got to go out with my dad for our usual.  We went to Olive Garden, ate what we always do.  It was a great time.  I'm really grateful for my dad and that he makes time for me.  11-20-25

DATE NIGHT AND TWO CARS KAPUT
We had to move our date night to Thursday for Luminaria on Friday.  As we were leaving for our date we got a call from Erika that the Forerunner wasn't starting.  We assumed it was the battery so we went and jumped it and were on our way.  We went to Zupas and then to see the movie Now You See Me Now You Don't.  While we were at the movie Nate got texts from Noah saying that Nate's car he was using was also not starting.  So after the movie we went over to the stake center to try jumping the white car.  It didn't work.  This was a little more frustrating and we finally just ended up towing it home.  Can you believe we had two cars call it quits on the same night!!  So bizarre.  Right after paying the guys who will be working on our house.  11-20-25

ERIKA'S FIRST GAME OF THE SEASON
Erika did such an amazing job in her game!  She even got to play quite a bit.  We were all there, cheering her on :).  Such a great game even though we lost.  11-21-25

LUMINARIA
We hurried out of Erika's game and raced down to Thanksgiving Point trying to get there by 6:00, but no later than 6:30 (because that's when I thought we were supposed to be there), but ended up stuck in traffic for quite a while, arriving at 6:25!!  I was so panicked running to the entrance.  Surprise though, we didn't need to be there til 7:00, 7:30 at the latest!  And we ended up standing around waiting for Charity and Hunter til even later :).  Which was totally fine, we just got ditched by the rest of the family.  This was a fun night though!  I didn't think it was too cold (course if I'd been in just a hoodie like Noah, I would have been colder, poor Noah left his coat in his car back in Kaysville).  We got to see everything.  Grandma got us all hot chocolate and churro bites.  We got to hang out with the Taylors through a lot of it.  The lights were beautiful.  We loved the Book of Mormon display with the Lehi's Dream display- very cool!  I loved spending that time together.  We missed Luke and Erika. It was nice of grandma Ruthie to plan that and spoil us all.  11-21-25

GIRLS NIGHT
The girls and I have gone to Nutcracker together for the last few years as kind of a girls night tradition and we wanted to do something again this year, but not really feeling the Nutcracker, so we chose to go see the Davis High Musical- Catch Me If You Can.  I wasn't sure how I would like this, even though I love the movie so much, but it was REALLY FUN!!  Such a high energy, FUN, colorful show!!  The girls and I loved it.  We decided to go to Zupas for dinner after.  This wasn't my favorite part because we need to work on manners about where and what we eat.  But I loved being with my girls and having that time together.  We all got a good laugh while Sadie was performing for us all :).  11-22-25

THANKSGIVING DAY
This year was pretty chill.  There wasn't a lot to do or anything to cook really, so we pretty much just chilled all morning.  We were able to go up to Grandma Ruthie's for dinner though and Nate was off, so that was awesome.  We had dinner with her and just a few other families and then as per her request, we did not do gingerbread houses.  Kind of a bummer, but she had some fun games for everyone to play- minute to win it style.  It was a lot of fun.  We loved being with everyone too.  I was happy that the Hollists and the Brenchleys made it :).  Feels weird putting it that way, but that's their names and it's easier than writing out all four names.  11-27-25

WHITE FRIDAY
This didn't quite go as planned.  There were no appointments, but we've been able to get in lately without at the Bountiful temple, so we risked it.  They didn't seem to happy with us being walk-ins.  We had so many of us too.  But they eventually let us in and let us do confirmations.  It's fun to have so many melchezedek Priesthood holders with us.  Nate stayted home with the little girls.  I still love just being in the temple.  Especially the Bountiful temple.  11-28-25

GINGERBREAD HOUSES
We ended up doing gingerbread houses with the Taylors afterall- they came all the way down to experience this tradition with us.  So nice.  We had a lot of fun.  Everyone got into it and had a lot of fun.  It's cute that they love this tradition so much.  I'm glad.  It is always fun to be with the Taylors.  The guys of course played basketball when we were done.  Claire made a guest appearance as well.  That was fun.  She had something up this way and decided to stop by.  We still need to see her cute doggie.  We all went to Mod Pizza (or whatever it is down there on 2600 S.  Yummy stuff- and they have gluten free.  This was the night that Sadie told the Taylor's cousin that she wanted to kiss him with her tongue.  So funny and so awkward.  Poor kid.  11-28-25

ZOOTOPIA 2
We've been hating being at home so much with all the construction and such, so we've found lots of things to go and do.  Saturday it was Zootopia 2!  This was a LOT of fun.  We were lucky to get seats.  I LOVED hearing the kids laugh- even Noah :).  The movie was adorable.  I think I liked it better than the first.  Maybe.  SO fun!  The kids were all happy- first movie in a while as a family that wasn't torture.  11-29-25

MUSIC THING
Our ward did this cool music thing.  I guess they did it last year too.  I had no idea.  The choir had been asked to sing in it, so I had to go, and I dragged everyone with me.  It ended up being pretty cool.  Not a huge turnout, but so much talent.  I really want to try to put something together for it next year.  Maybe me and Luke and Charity could do something??  That would be cool.  11-30-25

October 2025

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

September 2025

 LABOR DAY/MOLLY'S 10TH BIRTHDAY

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

August 2025

 DATE WITH JACK

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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