September

Lets start this post off with my favorite missionary.  Jake is serving in Bellevue and loving it.  His companion is Elder Boyd from Orem and they get along great. He sure has lucked out in the great companion department.  The top picture he sent along with this scripture: Mark 16:15 "And he said unto them, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature."  He cracks me up.  The bottom left on is with him and a former companion and their convert Zheng at a new member fireside.

What post from now on would be complete without pictures of Evan?  Doesn't his smiling face just put a smile on your face?  I dare you to tell me that it doesn't...

I love him so much and am counting the days until I get to see him again...

For our quarterly dinner group with the former RS presidency that I was in, we had a lovely evening up Logan Canyon at the Measom's yurt.  We had a nice time visiting and eating delicious food cooked by the experts Ty and Sue.  It sure is beautiful up there.

One rainy day I spent making chili sauce.  I loved doing it outside and not having to dirty up my stove.

Cam joined me one morning for a lovely bike ride from our house to 2nd dam along the Logan River.  I loved spending time with my boy.

Cam was back on the doctors table- this time for more mole removals.  He had one on his forehead and 2 on his neck taken off, and all three needed stitches.  He's a brave man.

I love my calling as activity day leader.  I have 3 sweet girls who are so excited about everything we do. For this activity we went to the temple and washed windows of cars there and left a note that said while they were inside serving, we were outside serving them.  Then we got frozen yogurt at Orange Leaf.  It was a hit!

I helped Lindsey train for her half marathon by going on several speed walks with her up Logan Canyon.  I was in heaven spending so much time in the canyon this fall. 

I made two triple batches of salsa this year, and several batches of different flavor freezer jam.  And I could eat a fresh veggie meal like this every day and not get tired of it.

MISC stuff-  *Janae came for a visit only a few weeks after moving to Washington. It was great spending some time with her.  I sure do miss her.  *I didn't see that many sunsets this summer for some reason, but I did capture this one. *Mike and I biked down to Orange Leaf one Friday night for our date night, then walked around and had a good talk. *I had to get out of bed one night to watch the most amazing lightning storm.  It was fabulous!

*I'm crazy about clouds and had to pull the car over one day to take this picture of the clouds setting so low near the Wellsvilles.  *More pictures of gorgeous Logan Canyon.

August

Cam as usual has had a great month- even though he's been working a lot at the pool lifeguarding and teaching, he still manages to have lots of fun with his friends.  Two of his friends, Chase and Tyson, received their mission calls this month- both to Argentina (but different missions) leaving the same day in December.  Cam decided he wanted to make his cool bedroom even cooler, so he talked us into letting him put some bolts in the wall to hang his hammock from, and string Christmas lights up around the room.  I have to admit, even I think it's an awesome room!  I hope his older siblings aren't too bummed that they weren't allowed to make such drastic changes to their bedrooms growing up...

I always like to include a couple pictures that Jake has sent me.  His new companion is Elder Boyd (pictured on top left) and his companion before that was Elder Beals (top right).  He liked both of them a lot. He's sure gotten lucky in the good companion department.

We tended Lydia one evening and then she spent the night.  She entertained herself very well- with me there to play with her.  We played magnet roll and memory, then she colored, hung out with Cam, ate dinner, and had her favorite graham crackers and milk for a treat before bed.  We loved having her spend time with us.

What post would be complete without some recent pictures of Evan?  Ky and Brody sent me this awesome pillowcase as a thank you for helping when Evan was born.  So now I get to sleep with this angel every night. I LOVE it.  Isn't he just the cutest thing ever?

Every year at this time, I always post a picture of the kids (or kid as the case has been the past 2 years) standing on the front porch on their first day of school. This year however, no one was there to pose for me....:( :( :(  It is so weird to be out of that stage of life.  Hopefully I'll get used to it one day.
 
 We had a lovely cookout in the canyon with Mom, Skeens, Bundys and Alsups.  I loved that Emma and Lydia brought their barbies, tents and sleeping bags and made them a real fire.  Haha.  That was great.

What's this?  More pictures of Evan?  Well, lucky you--- you get to look at his smiling, adorable face some more!

I had a busy two weeks helping people move.  I was very happy to help the Skeens move from
Paradise to Logan, but I was very sad to help my BFF of 15 years Janae move from Logan to Washington :( 

I don't have any pictures of Janae's move, but these are pics we took of their last weekend here.  We invited her and Ken and our friend Kathy and her daughter Arie over for dinner, then after dinner I hosted a going away party for friends in the stake for 2 1/2 hours.  They had a great turnout, and it was a nice way to send them off.

Over Labor Day weekend, we planned a fun get-away to Winter Park, Colorado.  On Friday morning, me, Jess and Cam left and drove 8 hours to get to the fun 3 bedroom condo we rented for 3 nights.  Kylee, Brody, Evan and Brad (who had left Texas 2 days earlier and had been hanging out w/ the Hatch's) joined us soon after.  It was wonderful to see everyone, especially Evan. He's changed a lot in the month since I've seen him and it was so great to hold and love on him.  We just hung out that evening enjoying our surroundings, eating, and playing cards. It was fun to see Cam in his new role of Uncle. 

The next morning the 3 boys went rock climbing, and we three girls and Evan went on a beautiful hike/walk.  Winter Park is gorgeous.  Evan slept the whole time in his sling.

The Bundy's and Mike arrived around 1:00.  It was so fun to see everyone seeing Evan for the first time.  I just loved it. 

Here's a picture of everyone holding the babe.

We ate lunch, took some pictures, then went to the ski resort literally across the street from our condo to walk around, play a little bean bag toss, and ride the alpine slide.  I chose to walk around with a sleeping Evan in the stroller while everyone else went, and I was happy with that.  They all said it was fun, but a bit overpriced at $15 per person. 

That night we went out to dinner at a delicious Mexican Restaurant and played games. 

On Sunday we hung out in the morning in the condo since it was raining, then after lunch we decided to take our chances on the weather and go for a hike/walk (the same one the girls and I did the day before).  It was great until it started hailing!  Luckily it only lasted for a couple of minutes. I don't think I've ever been caught outside before during a hailstorm.  It's painful!

We wandered around the area for a few hour checking out different things and having a great time.

On Monday I joined the 5 boys on a memorable 9-10 mile hike to James Peak.  I will never forget this hike because it was FREEZING for the 2nd half of the hike and none of us were dressed appropriately.  It was well below freezing with the wind chill, and you can see the way we were dressed below.  Bundy didn't even have a jacket!  And we all had shorts on.  It was rather miserable, but beautiful still.  Brody, being the endurance athlete that he's become, ran the whole way, came back and met up with us, went back to the top with us, ran back to the car, then ran back to us and walked back the rest of the way.  Whew!  What a guy. 

It was divine- divine I tell you- to come back to the condo and warm up and relax our muscles in the hot tub.  Then we had to hurry and eat lunch and pack up so we could get checked out by 2:00.  (Below are some more pictures of us skipping rocks in the pond on Sunday and of the adorable Evan)

It was such a fun three days and I'm so glad we could all be together.  In closing, enjoy another collage of the cutest baby on the planet!

July

The fun continued with the Lakes in town the entire first week of July. On July 4th, we all gathered at the Skeens for breakfast, followed by a patriotic program.  It was a lovely morning.

We then journeyed to Bountiful to spend the rest of the day and evening at the Call's Casa.  You will not find a more beautiful and fun backyard in the world than this one of Teresa and Brad's!  I absolutely love spending time there.  And now with the addition of the tennis and basketball court, it's definitely top notch.  A huge thank you to them for allowing us to invade their yard (luckily for them they were in Star Valley at another one of their magnificent properties).  It's always a highlight of the summer for all of us to be able to spend a day here (Ky- being 8 1/2 months pregnant, especially enjoyed being somewhere cool and relaxing...).

Brody and Bundy joined us half way through the day after taking a 4 hour ride on the Skeens razor.  They came straight to Bountiful afterwards- hence the dusty look in the top right picture.  Cam came at the very end of the evening after getting dropped off by his friends from spending a week in Lake Powell.  Look at his tan body compared to Griffin and Tanner!  Haha.  It looks like an oreo sandwich in reverse. 

I was so happy Ky and Brody decided to stay an extra 4 days.  It was so great having them all to ourselves.  Several nights were spent playing Rook outside on the patio, we went on walks, had cookouts, watched the fireworks and just enjoyed being together.  We sure miss Jess and Brad every summer when they leave for Texas for Brad's job, and I can't wait for the day when they get to be around all summer.

We all gathered at the Skeens the Sunday after the 4th for a delicious turkey dinner, and the sharing of our acts of service we had done since Christmas.  It was a wonderful evening.
The next day we spent at Lava Hot Springs.  We had a great time playing in the pool, waterslides and platforms, and floating down the nearby river.  


Cam has had a great summer- as usual, although this summer he's had to juggle a full-time job amongst all the fun times with friends...He has been working as a lifeguard at the Aquatic Center, as well as teaching swimming lessons every morning for 2 1/2 hours.   His friend Steve got his mission call to Canada.  He and his friends got into playing soccer while watching the World Cup.

He had a great week at Lake Powell with his friend Steve and his family, and his friends Tyson and Chase. 

Jake's been plugging away in Issaquah still--- he's been 6 months in the same area, but he's loving it.  Here he is with his companion Elder Beals, and on exchange with Elder Pulini.

 At a ward BBQ, and having treats at a members house.
I saved the best for last.....I became a grandma when
Evan Timothy Hatch made his appearance into the world on Tuesday, July 22 at 2:32 am.  I can't even begin to describe how excited I am and how in love with this baby I am.  I mean- just look at him! Ky had a hard and long 14 hours of labor, but it was all worth is to have this sweet little angel come into their home.  I was lucky enough to spend 10 days with him and Ky and Brody and I loved every second of my time there.

These were taken the first few days after getting home from the hospital.  That face!  I just want to stare at him all day long.

He spent so much time sleeping the first few days, that it was so fun when he started staying awake a bit longer.

I was so happy to be able to help Ky celebrate her golden birthday on the 27th as she turned 27.  I made dinner and they invited their friends over to eat, play games, and love on Evan.   I absolutely loved watching his parents love and take care of him and have an instant love for him.  What an awesome thing that was to witness.     I'm in love with Evan's nursery!  Ky (with a little help from me, Jess and Grandma Freda and her friend Chelsey) did such a great job of making it all come together.

Of course I'm counting the days until I see him again... 19 days from today!  We're going to spend Labor Day weekend with them.  Cam and Mike are very anxious to meet little Evan, but they're going to have to fight me for him... and Jessica will be there- the baby fanatic, so he's definitely going to get a lot of attention.  Ky and Brody should plan now to have a 3 day break from him (not that they need or want it...;).