A "Wickedly" Awesome Recital!

 As I am trying to upload one of Taylor's songs onto my blog, I had to add some of my favorite pictures from her recital.  She sang two songs from "Wicked":  POPULAR and FOR GOOD.  Her growth and confidence was amazing and her performance of "POPULAR" was simply electrifying!  We are so proud of our girl!

Our traditional dinner at Pizza Pie Cafe followed.  Poppie and Grandma came and ate with us too.  It was such a wonderful night to celebrate Taylor's talent, hard work and success with her music.

Mother's Day 2014

 "All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother."

Abraham Lincoln

My mother is incredible!  She is an elect lady who has given her life to her family, church and countless students, both secularly and religiously.  I love and admire her greatly.  It was wonderful to be able to talk to her in the mission field.

 "Children are the anchors of a mother's life."

Sophocles

How true!  These children are gifts from heaven!  I remember being in the mission field and, during a hard night with a very hard companion, I read my Patriarchal blessing and literally felt the strength of my future children to get me through the loneliest night of my life.  They keep me grounded, keep me humble and filled with pride all in one!  

 

Love Notes For Our Grandma on Mother's Day!

 Since we wouldn't be able to see our Grandma until the evening, we made plans to put up love notes and pictures of the kids on her outside door to surprise her on her way out the door to church!  On Saturday, it was wet and windy.  It was obvious that nothing would stick.  So Dave and I ran over to Grandma's house to tape it all up for the next morning.

When we arrived at Grandma's house, the kids were trying to be so sneaky!  So cute!  Here are some pictures!

 "Motherhood: All love begins and ends there."

Robert Browning

Barbara is an amazing mother and grandmother.  She is so supportive of our children and loves them fiercely.  We are all grateful for her life of service to her family and church.  I'm so grateful my children have a wonderful example and role model.

It was a lovely day with French toast and eggs in bed, beautiful music and talks at church, a morning "nap", talking to our favorite missionary on the phone and ending with time with Grandma and Poppie.  Yes, a simple, yet heart-felt celebration of motherhood at its best!

Happy 40th Birthday Nate Hult!

 We met at THE HARVEST at Thanksgiving Point for Nate's birthday bash.  He just wanted something low-key.  Meredith asked his friends and family to share things they love about Nate so she can compile a"40 Things" list.  As she was reading some of them, she started to cry.  Nate has a heart of gold and people love his kindness and generosity.  We do too.  It was wonderful to be with them!

Happy Birthday to our TEENAGER!

 Taylor turned 13!  It's almost unbelievable that she is a teenager.  We had two weekends filled with celebrations for her.  A fun BBQ at our house with the Lindays and then a party for her friends at the pool.  Dale and Dave enjoyed a game of tether ball here.  I have some awesome video to them playing!

 Yes, forever silly! :)

 Here are some random "selfies" that I found on my phone.  They crack me up!

POOL PARTY FOR THE TEENAGE GIRL!

 Taylor had 8 girls come and swim for three hours with her after school on Friday.  I rented a room so we could eat pizza and have some fun!  Here are the pictures of our great time together:

Taylor is making this teenage phase pretty easy!  We love you Taylor-girl!  You are a gift to our family!

Cousin Carson has talent galore!

 We drove as a family to Ephraim to watch Carson perform in some mini plays.  He was incredible!  Even Dave kept whispering to me, "Carson has some real talent."  And he does!  We watched his first kiss (on stage and yes, it made me blush) and we watched him play several very convincing roles.  It was a wonderful evening with our family and the Lindsays.

Game ON!

Just me and ten kids.

 Yep, if you are reading this, your read it right!  It was a weekend with just me and 10 kids!  My brother and his wife had the opportunity to go to Mexico and he called to see if I would be interested in helping with his children.  So the kids and I headed up the road to spend a weekend with our cousins.

 Jessica and Taylor

 Cousins!

 Twin Fever!  

Yes, the twins are mobile now.  They were cuddled and loved the entire weekend by our family!

Cousin game of RISK, just like I used to play with my cousins.

And they're off! Grandpa and Grandma Hatch leave for the Canary Islands!

And they're off to the Madrid, Spain Mission for a year!

Mom and Dad left on April 28th for a year-long assignment working with the Young Single Adults in the Canary Islands.  Here are some pictures I found of this place:

 On Sunday, mom and dad met at our home and came to church with us.  They wore these beautiful leis that some students from their mission to New Jersey had given them.  Dad wore his during sacrament meeting and then gave it to me to wear for primary.  The children thought I had been to Hawaii (I wish!).

After church, we took some pictures and ate some yummy steak carnitas for the last supper.   We worked on mom's facebook and blog.  I will add it to "These are a few of my favorite blogs"!  It is http://lifewithgaryandlarae.blogspot.com

Around 8:30pm, it was time to leave for the MTC to get their packing finished since they were leaving at 4:30am the next morning.  Goodbyes are never easy and Grandma cried.

 When we went to go, Alyssa freaked and started sobbing because she thought I was leaving to go on the mission with them!  Oh, little dolly!  Not this time!  But how sweet are you to show how much you love your momma!

 Mom made several phone calls to the kids on our way to the MTC.  She cried and cried.  It is hard for her to go.  It's hard for dad, too, but in a different way.

Back at the MTC, we had the task of weighing each one of the suitcases to make certain they were under 50 lbs and the carry-ons were under 35 lbs.  With each one opened, I noticed something and I finally said, "Mom, every time we open a suitcase, your things are in there.  Is Dad taking anything on this mission?"  Her reply was, "Your dad wants me to be the best dressed missionary on the island."  HAHAHA!  When we had to take out 5 1/2 lbs from one of her suitcases, she muttered under her breath, "If I have to take out one more pair of shoes, this mission is off and I'm going home."  I was able to sneak the red ones out.  It will be a nice surprise next spring when she arrives home!

It is hard to say goodbye to two of the finest people I know!  I love my parents dearly and am overwhelmed by their example of service and love.  The youth in the Canary Islands are about to get really lucky! Yes, we are willing to share our parents for a year!

Adios mis padres!  Vayan con Dios!