President Monson has stated on several occasions that "there is no such thing as coincidences." When Cindy and Carson chose to bring a foreign exchange student into their home, little did they know the role they would play in helping bring him to Christ. Dave, Jaxson, and I were honored to watch Jerry's baptism and take part in the service. The chapel was packed with friends and his family was able to view most of it via Skype. Cindy's talk was fabulous and set the tone for a beautiful service. We are grateful that Jerry has chosen to join the church and we are excited to see the role he will play in spreading the gospel in China.
Instead of the fathers spending hours carving out the fastest race cars for their sons to race, our ward has been doing the Lego Derby for the past two years. Austin built his car and then rebuilt it about 20 minutes before weigh in. Ironically, he took first in his den and 4th overall! His car was nicknamed the "rectangular wonder" since it was boxy and incredibly fast. Austin beamed over his winning car! Love my baby boy!
Our ward's YW and YM created an incredible missionary experience for the youth! Taylor received her mission call to Washington and Jaxson was called to Sweden. For several weeks, the kids practiced and prepared the 1st discussion so they could teach it to their families. On a Wednesday evening, our oldest kids headed out on their "missions" while Dave, Austin, Alyssa and I hosted two youth missionaries in Switzerland. We ate Raclette (of course) and asked them questions about "back home". After dinner, Elders Dittmar and Miller taught us a wonderful lesson about the 1st Vision. The spirit was strong and Dave and I couldn't believe how confidently and sweetly both Elders spoke about Joseph Smith. Jaxson and Taylor had wonderful experiences too. We are so grateful for our children's leaders and for ward members who go out of their way to give our children unforgettable experiences that will hopefully shape future decisions.
We were thrilled to welcome little baby Hyrum into the Hatch family! He made his entrance at 28 weeks weighing in a 3 lbs 12 ounces. We are praying he will continue to grow in strength and be healthy.
This year for Spring Break, we stayed in Utah. The kids had lots of play dates with friends and family while I was able to tackle some major projects like dejunking the storage rooms in the basement and getting ride of junk in half of the garage.
On one of our days off, we drove to Justin and Jana's house for a fun day with our cousins. Jessica and Madison wanted to go with Jaxson to the temple for his first time, so they did! Jana kept the little ones and I got to go with the older cousins for the experience. The flowers were spectacular and very fragrant; I felt like I was swimming in a bouquet! I snapped lots of pictures of the kids and sent them to their grandparents, parents, and aunts and uncles. Everybody was chiming in on how proud they were of the kids and how special these experiences are. It was really awesome!
After we finished up at the temple, we headed back to Justin and Jana's for some outside fun. Jessica saddled the horses and Madison caught sheep for the kids to ride. Austin calls Uncle Justin's house "epic"---it is easy to see why with all of the adventures we have whenever we go for a visit. We also had some park time before heading home in the evening. It was a wonderful day with cousins....best friends!
