Any Suggestions?

Hyrum's third birthday is coming up. We've been planning on getting him a bike, but now I'm thinking a big wheel might be safer? Or maybe a scooter?

Any suggestions? What do your kids like best? Which is easiest to ride?

When it comes to locomotion, where do we start?




Gone too fast...

Today I packed away all the baby toys and my nursing cover.

With Hyrum, it was when he turned one. I was caught off guard by a big wave of emotion, in realizing that he was not a baby anymore.

Expecting it to happen again, I tried to prepare myself when Audrey turned one, but it didn't come. I thought maybe I was just more emotionally aware or something...or maybe it was just a first baby thing.

No, it came today; once again surprising me. Today Audrey is no longer a baby.




"Since The Beginning of Time: 5 Years."

Today we celebrate five years. We were even married on a Tuesday. I'm pretty sure Ammon is goosing me in the above picture...

Thank you to everyone that came to celebrate with us. Even though it was a Tuesday. Of course, now I better realize why people don't normally get married on Tuesdays. This picture may capture the way many of you felt, after all I put you through!Hopefully the company and the food made it worthwhile! I still dream about the Chicken Marsala.
Ammon and I don't have the resources to have a big celebration, so instead we have been wishing each other, "Happy Anniversary" for weeks now. What we couldn't have in quality we made up in duration. I fix him breakfast and say, "Happy Anniversary!" He puts Hyrum to bed and says, "Happy Anniversary!" We do these things normally, but this way it feels festive.
We spent Sunday evening looking at old scrapbooks, wedding pictures, and watching our wedding video. I came away surprised at how much I have changed over the last 10 years. I am ashamed of many of my choices over my teenage years; I feel like I am a completely different person today from who I was when I got married. That is a good thing. Ammon and I agreed that we like who we are today better then who we were 5 years ago. Our reminiscing left Ammon missing his dad. Of course we never would have guessed that he wouldn't be here to see our 5 year anniversary.



It just so happened that Ammon's grandma, Verlin's mom, died the day we were married. We were all at the hospital the night of January 19th. On the eve of my wedding I witnessed Ammon's grandparents having to say goodbye to one another after a lifetime together. I remember watching Grandpa Hatch cry as he made the choice not to prolong her life. I saw what love could be. I loved Ammon the day we were married, but I love him better today. Love grows. I smile thinking of what the next years will bring.




Stories that are told and retold...

Ammon comes from a family of 10.
The narrowest gap in siblings is between Ammon and his older brother, Andrew, of 15 months.

One night when these two boys were between the ages of 3-5 the family knelt down for prayer. Andrew offered the prayer and closed with,

"In the name of Jesus Christ, Andrew."

After a confused silence, Andrew was asked why he chose to end his prayer that way.

He responded, "Ammon always gets to say his name at the end of the prayer!"




For Fun





The Stories that are Told and Retold

I can still remember my fascination with chalk rocks.
I'm four; my parents just purchased a brand new Ford Aerostar.
The van was gray, like a fresh slate.
I wrote my ABC's with such care, sure to space them out evenly over the entire (reachable) surface.
I don't remember my parent's reaction,
but I can imagine.
The story goes that, thanks to me, we owned the FIRST Ford Aerostar with a stripe.
The trend caught on fast.
Before we knew it, there were Aerostars everywhere
with a big horizontal stripe right at the height of a small child.
Check out this copy cat:




In Small and Simple Ways...

It's been a banner year! This is Colleen, my mother in-law, with her seven newest grandchildren. Audrey, the oldest, born November '07 through Graham, born October '08. I don't think it is a coincidence that this posterity burst came within the first year after Grandpa's passing.
What better way to comfort this wonderful matriarch!Grandma Hatch with all her grandkids: Now she is reaping the rewards of raising ten children.





Just a glimpse of our holiday vacation

Is there something wrong with this picture?

Audrey's cast fell off.
Yes, folks, it just fell off.
We stopped in an out-of-the-way corner of Disneyland to assess the situation: Baby with broken leg without cast. Toddler with fever and croup.
Ammon and I were huddled around our younglings when we noticed someone stoop down behind us.
It was Mary Poppins!
Upon hearing our story she declared she had "never heard anything so absurd in all her life."
This is the woman who pulls lamps and hat stands out of carpet bags, mind you.
Turns out, Mary Poppins is one of Ammon's childhood favorites. He was pleased to have met her in person. It wasn't a favorite movie for me, I thought she looked old, which is funny now.
(P.S. Sorry about the link...it's one of Hyrum's favorites. I couldn't resist. Gotta love the 1990 Disney Sing-A-Longs. Watch out it's catchy.)