A Day at the Zoo with the Hatch Family...but where is Jody?

Oh, how we love going to the zoo! Ever since Dave had children and we started visiting zoos, he always gets a picture with the kids in front of the giraffes. Here it is: 2011!

On Friday, August 19, the Hatches gathered at Hogle Zoo for a day with the animals. And me? I was at school eating up a rare opportunity to have some extra hours without paying for babysitting or leaving the kids with Dave.

Jeff picked up the kids at Barbara's house and headed up to the zoo. Soon after, Dave called me to tell me he had rearranged his day so he could be with the kids at the zoo. I loved these pictures he took of our children and my people:

Jeff and Nicole, getting all of the kids ready for a day with the caged wildlife.

Cousins

Jana and Ginger

Hey Jeff!

Brandon, Jeff and Nicole

2011 Picture in front of the giraffes

Jeff- thanks for chopping off Alyssa's head! :)

Taking a break!

Great times in the Lindsay family!

Dave's iPhone Pics

Dave loves to take pictures with his iPhone, but uploading them to a computer is a foreign experience for him. Enter Jody! :)

I started adding pictures and they went back to February of this year. I thought, "I should choose my favorite 10 pictures of the 300 and post them so I can remember what was important enough for Dave to snap a picture. Here's what we've got:

Dave shaves his Goat-and has a little fun on the shaving journey! :)

Step #1 to a debt-free life: the sale of Dave's NICE (but expensive truck) and buys a used BMW in cash....

Austin's Love of Sports!

Jody's love of other people's babies.....

Spring in Utah: our backyard looks so stunning!
(before the weed-fest, of course!)

Beautiful Boy

Freezing our tails off at the boys' baseball game in May

Picture of Alyssa dressed up by her siblings

Rekindling old friendships at swimming lessons
(Up until Taylor was 6, she honestly believed that Brita and Leah were her sisters. We LOVE our sisters! :)

A fire way too close to Nate and Meredith's home!

Golfing with BFF Steve Johnston in Temecula, Ca

The surprise closet, built by my husband!

Dave's father in great spirits while in the hospital. We're so thankful he is doing so well now!

Austin, aka spider monkey

Playing air hockey at Sub Zero.....FUN for all!

Daddy's Evening in the park with the kids while mom is out on a much-needed Girl's Night Out with Meredith

A Father's pride.....

Labor Day Weekend

There was labor....and then there was play! I love getting things done and I love to have fun. Our weekend had a little bit of everything in it.

Saturday ended up to be the "perfect" day. Our morning started early with a boys' football game in Draper at 9:00am. They lost. They lost BIG time. But on the bright side, I noticed improvement from the week before and that made me so happy. After the game, we came home and got ready to go boating with the Hults and DuJardins at Utah Lake. It ended up to be incredible. The kids were pulled behind the boats on a tube for hours. Meredith, Yolanda, Dave and Reuben all went for the wakeboard (they forgot their adult ski so I decided to wait for my "real" experience- I know, pansy). We laughed, soaked up the sun and simply enjoyed the experience.

After we got home, we ate pizza and invited some of the kids' friends over for a late night with RIO and popcorn. Dave and I started some yard work until dark while the children watched their show and had some fun.

Sunday was awesome. Church was incredible and I loved the themes discussed.

On Monday, Dave and I spent about 6 hours in our yard trimming back bushes, bagging up the branches, weeding and mowing. We were stunned by how much progress we made and by how great the back of our yard looks now.

Yep, Labor Day weekend was laborious and delightful!

Taylor and Carter, having fun on the tube

Hey DuJardins!

The beautiful Hult girls!

Dave and baby doll in pigtails

Jaxson got right to work holding the orange flag!

And here is the love of my life giving wake boarding a shot!

I LOVE the majestic Utah mountains. Great picture of baby girl.

Lookin' great, Dana

Master driver and Kid-handler: Captain Nate!

While watching Justin wake board, I noticed Clara and Austin holding hands. Adorable.

Dave and baby dolly

Lookin' good, Reubs!

Some of the boat's occupants were less impressed with the wake boarding than others.....

Here is Yolanda, killing it on the board!

My favorite "coaching" moment on Saturday didn't occur at the boys' football game; it happened on the water. I listened countless times to both Dana and Dave, who had barely gotten up once in their lifetimes on a wake board, coach Meredith on how to get out of the water and wake board. Really guys????

Dana, the coach

(It has never taken him over 8 times to get somebody out of the water with his coaching)

Meredith was amazing! What an athlete!

Jaxson was everywhere on the boat.

Cutest 3 year old boy in the world....

Here are Taylor and Jaxson swimming from the DuJardin boat to the Hult boat. GO KIDS!

Almost up, Meredith!

Cutest 10 year old in the world!

Oh, the countless reasons why love New Zealand....REUBEN! :)

Reubs was so much fun to photograph skiing. What a champ!