World Language Advocate

I did it! I made 120 buttons (actually 109 because I ruined the other 11). So exciting!

 

Game 1: City Rec Basketball Tournament

Alyssa's team played the AFHS Tennis Team on the basketball court. 

We had a strong win. :)

But put the girls on a tennis court, and the outcome would have been very different.

We LOVE watching our girl play!

 

Twas' the Night Before the MTC for Elder Patrick Stratton!

It was Tuesday afternoon and I was just back from my Christmas Break on my way to a meeting when Jenny called. I had 11 minutes before my meeting so I picked up the call. She was sobbing. Like sobbing so badly, my stomach dropped and I was certain mom or dad had died! Nope- Patrick had flown to Utah to stay a night with Grandpa and Grandma Stratton before entering the MTC. After I got both of us under control, she asked if I could go and see him and "take pictures and videos." Of course, I could....as I looked at my booked schedule for the rest of the day. So I sent Andrea Stratton a text and headed over to their home in Orem so I could hug my nephew and celebrate him going into the MTC. Alyssa was helping Dave with a ketamine patient so I asked them to stop by on their way home as well. Dave is the "fun" one of the two of us, so he stopped at Dairy Queen to buy Patrick a blizzard to celebrate him. As I sent the pictures and videos to the Hatch Family group text, Jenny was so touched as we all celebrated her beautiful son!

FROZEN at the Hale Center Theater!

Broadway-level chills at Hale Center Theater watching FROZEN with Taylor!

I love that we enjoy theater together. Everything magical, musical, and mystic.

It was the perfect Christmas gift to a perfect daughter.

Sometimes we struggle to get a good picture.....

The struggle is REAL! hahahaha

Jaxson- the Ultimate Team Player

Jaxson helps us see vision. 

Jaxson urges a swipe of the credit card.

And then when the furniture arrives, without complaining, he goes to work, hours on end, helping to assemble everything. 

The day after Christmas, Taylor bought a new dresser and desk for her bedroom, new bedding and decor---a total bedroom makeover. Jaxson worked for hours assembling the difficult pieces to make her bedroom an oasis.

I have been wanting a trendy hutch for my dining area. I found one on sale the day after Christmas and purchased it---along with new barstools for the basement from Mom and Dad Hatch as a Christmas gift--- and everything arrived the same day. Jaxson went right to work, assembling all of the barstools and then tackled the hutch. We watched Sunset Real Estate as we worked to assemble it. It looks fabulous in our kitchen! And Jaxson...the most FABULOUS of all!

 

Happy NEW YEAR!!!

With three of our four children into adulthood now, we have shifted some of our New Year's Eve fun to New Year's Day Celebrating. We slept in (except for me, of course) and enjoyed a wonderful Raclette dinner together in the late afternoon.

I love my family!

 

2026 Mantra: Rooted & Becoming

For the past several weeks, I have reflected on how my 2025 word, rescript, was powerful in my year of grieving family and career changes, how it gave me permission to be in charge of rescripting the narrative of the main character of my story: ME. 

For 2026, I have thought a lot about what my word should be. I concluded I need a word that requires courage, adaptability, and deep alignment with values in the areas of faith, family, profession, and health. I've teetered between “Becoming”  and “Rooted” as my 2026 word of the year. BECOMING embraces growth through uncertainty, it honors courage, growth and adaptability without the pressure to arrive. It reminds me that I value progression. ROOTED speaks to steadiness, values and the quiet courage in the midst of changes that I can’t predict. I love the idea of a constant reminder of what I am rooted in spiritually (my faith and moving toward Christ), family (being rooted in patience, presence and love), rooted in my health (rooted in the habits that sustain and strengthen me physically and mentally) and professionally (rooted in my “why" as I adapt and take risks). 

So I decided to do something different that I have never done for my word of the year: COMBINE THEM.

So my words of the year are ROOTED and BECOMING. Without roots or direction, movement alone isn’t meaningful. Being rooted gives clarity; becoming gives purpose to each step. Intention. 

When I am unclear about what matters, any step will do.
When I am rooted in purpose, each step leads me forward.

So here's to being rooted in what matters as I become who I'm meant to be in 2026!