Diaper Change...?

...I think NOT!

Seriously. How hard could it be to get this cute little bum covered?

Well.... I first found him here...

(He thinks he is so TRIXY!)

And finally here...

LITTLE STINKER!

(This post was given a PG/PG-13 rating for "some nudity")

*Probably should have put that warning at the beginning*

July 24th

For my dad's b-day (which was on May 24th), my bro's and sis and I gave my dad tickets to see a Real Soccer game. This also included all of us getting tickets so we could all go together.
So... we got the tickets.

And had a ball! (no pun intended)
It was a great game. The first half was a bit slow and we really started to wonder why they were considered a professional team. But they made a comeback 2ND half and won the game 4 to 2.
Being the 24Th, they did some fantastic fireworks that were choreographed to music. So FUN!
Unfortunately, we left the camera in the car. (so typical) So the only proof that we went to the game is this lovely tattoo.
I figured that because I am such a huge Real soccer fan I should make it official.

Actually, I really started to wonder if it was going to be permanent when I could not figure out how to get it off Sunday morning before church. You'd think that because I have boys who have had many a cartoon character temporarily imprinted on their bodies, I would know the tricks. But truth is I usually just let them wear them until they wear off on their own.
But this one could NOT stay. I thought it might distract from the spirit of the meeting if the music leader was waving a tattoo-ed arm in front of them.
Luckily, just as we were about to walk out the door, I tried one last thing.
FINGER-NAIL POLISH REMOVER! It wiped right off!

Thanks to my GREAT family for such a FUN night. (and BIG THANKS to Bruce and Christy for letting the boys sleepover!)

Mermaid or Whale?

(My sis-in-law sent this and I thought to myself.... So True, So True!)

Recently, in a large French city, a poster featuring a young, thin and tan
woman appeared in the window of a gym. It said:

¨THIS SUMMER DO YOU WANT TO BE A MERMAID OR A WHALE?¨

A middle aged woman, whose physical characteristics did not match those of
the woman on the poster, responded publicly to the question posed by the
gym.

To Whom It May Concern:

Whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, sea lions, curious
humans). They have an active sex life, they get pregnant and have adorable
baby whales. They have a wonderful time with dolphins stuffing themselves
with shrimp. They play and swim in the seas, seeing wonderful places like
Patagonia, the Barren Sea and the coral reefs of Polynesia. Whales are
wonderful singers and have even recorded CDs. They are incredible
creatures and virtually have no predators other than humans. They are
loved, protected and admired by almost everyone in the world.

Mermaids don't exist. If they did exist, they would be lining up outside
the offices of Argentinean psychoanalysts due to identity crisis. Fish or
human? They don't have a sex life because they kill men who get close to
them not to mention how could they have sex? Therefore they do not have
kids either. Not to mention who wants to get close to a girl who smells
like a fish store?
The choice is perfectly clear to me; I want to be a whale.

P.S. We are in an age when media puts into our heads the idea that only
skinny people are beautiful, but I prefer to enjoy an ice cream with my
kids, a good dinner with a man who makes me shiver and a coffee with my
friends. With time we gain weight because we accumulate so much
information and wisdom in our heads that when there is no more room it
distributes out to the rest of our bodies. So we aren't heavy, we are
enormously cultured, educated and happy. Beginning today, when I look at
my butt in the mirror I will think, Good gosh, look how smart I am.

"Help! Mom, Help!"

For some reason Tate thinks this is the best technique to climbing out of the crib. It usually ends in him calling out, "Help Mom, Help!" He calmly says it over and over, while in this position, until I get him out. Silly Boy.

Asking for prayers...

I just wanted to ask for your prayers for my youngest brother, Shane. He was life flighted to McKay Dee Hospital last night. He went up for a header, as he is known to do, during an indoor soccer game. As he was coming back down, another player was coming up and they collided. Shane was knocked flat. He tried getting up but then began to have a grand mal seizure. It probably lasted about 7 -10 minutes. Luckily my other brother Brian was on the field playing as well. He administered a priesthood blessing to Shane. As soon as the blessing was finished, the seizure stopped. Life Flight arrived and was planning to take him to the University of Utah, but because Shane seemed to be improving, they changed to McKay.

Shane has bruising on the frontal lobe of his brain, and 3 facial fractures on his skull. He has improved significantly and no more seizures so he was able to go home today. However, he is on a strict home watch. No work, no driving, no big physical activities for one month. Of course with any head trauma, he will need to return to the hospital periodically to check for bleeding.
We are so grateful he is doing as well as he is, but continue to ask for additional prayers in his behalf so that he can continue to heal properly. Yet, another lesson learned on the power of the priesthood.

Thank You for your prayers.

Let Freedom Ring!

I just wanted to say how much I enjoy the calling I have in my ward. I am the ward chorister. I have the privilege of standing in front of the ward each week and leading them in singing beautiful praises to our Lord and Savior. I get to see the look in their eyes as the spirit touches their hearts from a certain phrase in the hymn. I get to see the children watch me and try so hard to wave their arms just like me. I get to hear their little voices ring above the rest. I am constantly amazed how the spirit guides me in choosing each hymn and not knowing why I chose it until we sing it on Sunday and I feel how it correlates to the speakers so well. It is such a fulfilling calling. I am grateful to have it.

This last Sunday, was Fast Sunday and the day after the 4th, so I chose patriotic hymns. The opening hymn being "America the Beautiful" and the closing hymn being "The Star Spangled Banner". I have often found myself touched when singing that song, but nothing compared to the feeling I experienced as the organist began to play the prelude and the congregation stood. I was impressed with how many sang that first verse without the help of their hymn books. I was even more impressed how many continued singing the 2nd and 3rd verses without their books. I mean I know the first verse but definitely needed my book for the rest.
As I looked across the congregation I could feel the strength of our ward. I could see the love each person had for this country. As my eyes fell upon certain families that I knew had members that were serving or had served our country (we actually have quite a few), I was so proud of them. I was so grateful for their sacrifices to help keep this "the land of the free and the home of the brave". I don't think I have ever heard so many beautiful voices ringing out with such conviction and power. I was so proud to be an American, "...one nation, under God...". What surprised me the most was the reaction my body had to all of this power. I say "my body" because it almost felt unreal to me. By the last verse, my body began to shake and tears rolled down my cheeks. I could not sing, and almost dropped my book because of the shaking. I managed to sing out the last line. As I sat down for the closing prayer, my hands were shaking uncontrollably and I felt like my heart would burst out of the chest. It was difficult to keep my breathing calm and quiet for the prayer. I felt so much POWER racing through me.

To my ward members, I just want to say THANK YOU. Thank You for singing out with such conviction and love for our country. To our country, I say THANK YOU. Even though there is plenty of evil swirling around the world, I know there is still plenty of good, strong people that will keep us FREE.

I AM PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!!

LET FREEDOM RING!!!!

(Keep reading to see our fun 4th festivities)

4th of July Festivities!!

Every year for the 4th, my side of the family has a fantastic tradition. On the 3rd, we head over to my parents' house for a yummy BBQ and games. We then set up our air matresses, and sleeping bags on my parents lawn to watch a movie on the projector outside and then sleepover.

This year we decided to do it up at our family cabin. We arrived, had a scrumptious BBQ and then the games began. Each year my crazy parents create a "simple" relay race for the couples to compete in for a prize. This years event was more than any of us bargained for and really not so... simple.
Unfortunately, I do not have pictures of this because of my competitive involvement in these activities. My dad did video each couple going through the course which I will try to get posted when I can. Until then, here is my attempt to give you a play by play.

*The Objective: The couple to complete the course with the fastest time and the most ounces of water left in their cups... WINS!!

*First the couple must obtain their paper cups and fill them with a equal amounts of water.

*Then when the timer starts, you must name off every person in the family (from my parents down to each grandkid).

*Run down the steps of the deck to the button swing. Each person in the couple must take one full ride on the swing. (remember we are holding a full cup of water that we cannot put down)

*Then run to the jungle gym, climb up the ladder, slide down the slide, and swing in unison on the swings.

*Then you are to run through the trails that cut through the trees until you come to the the "love swing". You must sit on this swing and take a piece of string licorice putting one end in each persons mouth and eat it to the middle. (Think Lady and the Tramp)

*Then, while chewing SPICY licorice, run through more wooded trails (did I mention the licorice was quite spicy?) until you reach the "lookout tower".

*Climb up the TALL ladder. Stand at the top on the platform and sing (remember we are still chewing the spicy licorice) the STAR SPANGLED BANNER!

*Then climb down, run through more wooded trails until you reach the Tee Pee. Sit on the log stumps and sing "One Little, Two Little, Three Little Indians".

*Then again follow the trail to the driveway where a "simple" game of horse shoes is set up. All each person had to do was hit the DARN pole before moving on. Simple Right? Uh-Huh...

*Then (no it is NOT over)the next station had a string strung between two tires so that it was above the ground about 2 feet. All we had to do was build a fire underneath it that was big enough to snap the string. (You try lighting a fire while holding a cup full of water).

*Then... one person would hold both cups of water and get into a wheel barrel while the other person pushed it around many orange cones. About half way through you switched places and went the rest of the way UP the slanted driveway. (Keep in mind the SIZE of MY hubby)

*Once you reached the end of that you had to bungee yourselves together and walk across a balance beam.

*Then run up the deck stairs, shove some Saltine crackers in your mouth and say the Pledge of Allegiance.


*The timer stops at the final word. Your time and water ounces are then recorded and then next couple begins!!!

Brian and Brittany were our BIG WINNERS this year.
For the record... Dan and I were only 2 seconds behind Bri and Britt, but we were about 8 ounces short on water. I believe I did mention that Dan is a good 215 pounds (pure muscle of course) and even though I have been religiously working out, which includes lifting weights, it was a bit hard for me to keep him balanced in a wheel barrell. Therefore I unfortunately dumped him out and lost said ounces.
(Oh and did I also mention that my brother is a "mere 150" pounds? )
CONGRATZ BRI and BRITT!!
I think we will begin training for next year now.

Instead of the usual lawn arrangement, we all set up our sleeping gear on the deck...

And watched a movie on this years newest feature...
Yes, this is a 12 foot "blow up TV"! AWESOME!

We set the kids up inside on the floor to watch their kids movie, MADAGASCAR.
Unfortunately, it started raining at the end of the movie and most of us moved inside to the cozy beds.

We had planned to go waterskiing at 6am the next morning, but because we stayed up until 2am we all bailed and slept in.

We had breakfast burritos and the yummy dessert we never ate the night before for breakfast.

We then seemed to just take it easy. We missed the Huntsville Parade and couldn't even do our own fireworks up there because we didn't feel like talking to the police later.

Not to say we didn't have a fantastic time, because WOW we did. It was actually great to have a relaxing morning.

My mom got all the grandkids matching shirts. So we did a little photo shoot. Here are a few of the better ones. Its hard to get 7 kids under the age of 6 to sit and smile...

We'll have let my dad play around with these and swap a few heads.

We spent the rest of the morning riding the four wheelers...

The BIG ones...
(check out that little grumpy man-he really does LOVE riding these)

And the little one...



Tracen practiced some of his ninja moves..

And the babes started practicing for future years of mud splashing...


We all then headed off to be with the other sides of the family.

Because much of Dan's family lives "far far away" (insert sad whimper), and his parents were on a month long "road trip" back east and the Bruce and Christy crew were hanging with her parents during the afternoon...

We hung out with the next closest thing to family.... GREAT FRIENDS!

We went over to Burke and Heidi's house for the afternoon. We had yummy BBQ, salads, veggies, fruit, Homemade English Triffle (which was so tempting I totally cheated on my little health competition and lost a point), an incredible chip dip, cookies, and GREAT COMPANY.

We also spent a little time in their pool, despite this being the coolest 4th of July I have EVER experienced!

Tracen and Tyler had a wonderful time. They LOVE the water. Little fishes.
Here is Tate contemplating whether he should get in that freezing cold water...

The others definately didn't seem to mind...

I think the BIG BOYS stayed in the very longest...

(Dan)

(Burke)

Thank You Hatches for always letting us be part of the fam!!!!

That evening we met up with Bruce and Christy. We shot off a few fireworks for the kids in the driveway and then headed up the canyon.

We decided we'd rather not fight the crowds this year so we parked at the Fernwood Campgrounds (by the castle in Layton) and headed up The Great Western Trail. We only went far enough to find a great little opening in the trees that let us overlook the whole valley. Dan and I used to do this when we were dating and thought it to be great fun.

However, life has changed a bit.

The kids were actually quite excited when we started. Then... I pulled out the flashlights only to find that Tyler's was not working. The battle began. He screamed, he cried, he hit, and screamed some more. So while the rest of the crew continued up the trail... I got to hang back with the little monster trying to calmly say, "I am sorry your flashlight does not work. But it is NOT ok to scream and hit like this. So here are your choices. You can either continue screaming and we will go back to the van by ourselves and miss the fireworks OR you can find your happy face and we will get to see the fireworks with everyone else." He finally did calm down and we met up with others. Unfortunately the good times were very short lived. Tyler began crying about the flashlight again and had to be escorted back down the trail and miss the fireworks. This caused Tate to start crying because, "Where did daddy go? I go with daddy!" Cry, Cry, Cry! The fireworks FINALLY ended. We headed back down to find Tyler asleep in the van and Daddy determined to NEVER to anything FUN for the 4th again! GRRRR! (I think he was still grumpy from burning his hand on a firework earlier)

All in all it really was a great 4th of July. We are so grateful to live in a FREE COUNTRY and to have so many wonderful friends and family to share good times with.