Concealed Weapons Permit

Bryce bought me a 9mm Taurus hand gun for my last birthday.  I was in Texas for my birthday and so he didn't give it to me until I got home from vacation.  I have been waiting to shoot the gun but the Impact Gun store has been slammed every weekend and it has just been too cold to shoot outside.

Well, Paul really wanted me to take the concealed weapons class with Steph, so he signed us up to go in March.  I ended up going with Jacqui, Steph, Jocie, and Kyle.  The class cost was $135 a person, which was pretty steep.  I enjoyed the class.  I learned that less than 50 kids get killed each year by accidental gun shootings.  I also learned that you can use your gun if you are under imminent and immediate danger.  I learned that you shoot to stop, not shoot to kill.  I learned that CWP holders can carry a loaded gun anywhere except churches, corrections facilities, federal buildings, and the airport.

The class ended up taking 4 hours.  Dex Taylor was our instructor.  He told a lot of interesting stories and he seems to be literally addicted to guns, but he knows a lot of information about gun safety.  Bryce and I went to the range to shoot my 9 and Paul's 22 when the class ended.  I didn't really enjoy shooting my gun because of the recoil.  It kind of stung my hands.  I did most of my shooting with Paul's handgun, which I quite enjoyed! Now, I cant' decide if I want to sell mine and get a 22 or just keep mine since it is a slim for concealed carrying. I will have to shoot it a few more times before I make my decision!

GetAir

The boys were invited to their friends birthday party, which was at GetAir, located in Roy.  It is a trampoline park.  It's kind of an expensive place, so we don't go very often,but the kids had a great time "getting air".

Cooper disappeared for the most part.  We saw him every now and then, but he was off jumping around on all the tramps.  He would find Jordy and jump with her for a few minutes and then he would jump with Tyler for a bit.

Clayton had a great time sliding down the trampolines.  In the little kid section, they had a basketball hoop and lots of balls rolling around.  Clayton kept giving me the balls and wanted me to try and throw them at him as he slid down the trampoline.  I really like this place because the boys get lots of exercise and get to burn off some of their energy. I, on the other hand, wont' jump because I will slightly pee myself each time I jump....the joys of giving birth!

Love good Health

We have had our fair share of bumps in the road as far as health these past 6 weeks.  In the latter part of January, I starting getting dizzy one day.  It lasted for about 2 days before I decided to get my feet zoned.  The very next day, I woke up with sinus congestion and head cold.  After 7 days of the head cold, I woke up one day to be completely dizzy.  I even stumbled into the wall when trying to walk into my bathroom.  I ended up going to my doctor immediately. I didn't have an infection, but the doctor thought it was related to inner ear problems.  I received a priesthood blessing and some Mecclazine for the dizziness.  They both helped and I was back on my feet the next day!

A few days later, Clayton got a runny nose and ended up with Croup that night at 1:30 am.  I got him right into Wee Care in Layton, where they gave him a shot, irrigated his ears a dozen times, said he was the best patient they had ever seen, filled his pockets with suckers and sent us on our way. 

A couple weeks later, Cooper came into our room one night at 3 a.m to tell us that his "man" parts were really painful.  I couldn't figure out what was wrong, but I knew he was hurting.  I put him in a warm bath and after questioning him and "probing" a bit, realized it was his "sac" that was causing him the problems.  He said he had been awake all night and they it hurt to sleep on his side.  I gave him Motrin, tucked him in bed and he finally fell asleep.  The next morning, I let him sleep in and when he woke up, "they" were swollen and red.  We got him right into the doctor.  They did an exam and a urine analysis.  Everything came back fine, but they wanted to make sure that the blood vessels were wrapped around the testes strangling it to death, so they sent us up to another clinic to get an ultrasound.  After lots of probing and many pictures, we found out that he just had an infection.  After one day of antibiotics, he was able to run and play and sleep normal again. He was such a good sport after going through all that crap! I was proud of him and I enjoyed spending the day with him, even though it was for a bad reason.

We have been so blessed with good health.  These are little things compared to what some people go through, so I feel blessed.  I am thankful for modern medicine, for medical advancements, for amazing doctors who are kind and caring, and I am thankful for priesthood blessings that help us feel comfort in times of need!

Sledding

On Saturday the 16th of February, we didn't have plans, so we decided to take the boys over to Emma Russell park to go sledding.  The weather was starting to warm up and the snow was starting to melt so we figured we better get them sledding soon.  On this particular day, the sun was out and it was kind of warm. The boys didn't have to wear snow clothes or jackets.

Cooper had a blast going down the hill over and over again.  It is the perfect place because its not too steep that it scares them and its not too long that they have to spend all their enery walking back up to the top.  Clayton was fine just to take his little shovel and dig in the snow.  He decided to go down with Cooper one time.

Bryce wanted to try going down with Cooper also.  They ended up tipping over both times, but they had a good time. I just sat at the bottom of the hill taking pictures and enjoying their smiling, happy faces.  We let the boys play for an hour and then headed for home. 

Valentines Season

This year, I thought it would be fun to put a heart on the boys' room each night after they went to bed.  On the hearts, I would write down some of the reasons we loved the boys.  I put a sign on their door that read, "We Love You Because....". We did this starting on the first and ending on the 14th.  Clayton thought this was the coolest thing ever.  Each morning he would wake up and look for the new heart.  "Mom, what does this one say?"

For Valentines, Grandma and Grandpa Hatch sent them a heart wreath with a little bit of candy for each of them.  They enjoyed this and loved the candy.  What a cute idea! We decided that instead of giving the boys candy and junk for V-Day, we would take them to a movie! We took them to "Wreck It Ralph".  We got popcorn, candy, and some drinks and headed to the movie.  This is one of our favorite things to do as a family. We enjoy watching the boys laugh and have a good time at the movies!

We traded off kids with Jacqui and Jared, so we could we could each go out for V-Day without spending so much money on a sitter.  Bryce and I went to dinner at Dickeys BBQ (Yum) and then we went to Jack Reacher.  It was a pretty intense show.  It's always nice to get away and have a date with my husband every now and then! Love my family....I am blessed!

Hyrum Dam

Bryce, myself, and the boys headed to Cache Valley for the day so that Bryce could fix Tawni's brakes on her car. We were able to visit grandma and grandpa for an hour and then spend the rest of the time with Jocelynn and the kids.

Cooper and Clayton always enjoy playing at Ty's house because he is so nice to them.  He is an older cousin but he is very loving and gentle with them.  He also has lots of toys and tons of Legos they can play with.  That day, Ty had a birthday party out on Hyrum Dam with his buddies. 

Jocelynn took us out to Hyrum, where we hiked down a long hillside, trying not to slide down on our bums. It was such a beautiful day with blue skies and temperatures around 40.  Once we got onto the lake, we were a little worried because we had never walked on a frozen lake.  Jocelynn and I took Clayton's hands and helped him walk over the ruts in the lake. 

Every time Jocelynn and I would step down, the first layer of snow with crunch down and it felt like we were going sink into the lake.  Actually, many of the ice fisherman would drive four wheelers and snow mobiles on the lake, so were shouldn't have been worried about going through the ice. We made sure that Clayton and Cooper knew to be careful and around the ice holes. 

Ty and the other boys caught quite a few fish.  Clayton thought the fishing was pretty neat and he wanted to do it himself.  Some of the boys tried to help him catch a fish.  Cooper just enjoyed walking around on the frozen lake.  He thought it was pretty neat to be walking on water!

Winter Wonderland

 In January, we received so much snow.  Clayton and I spent many days out shoveling the snow off the driveway and sidewalks.  He thought this was so much fun. The problem is that we had a long freeze and so it left big areas of frozen ice on the end of the driveway.  Everyday, Clayton and I would go out and chip it off.  It took weeks to finally remove it, but I had a good time watching Clayton work with his small shovel.

Grandma Hatch was doing a unit at her school on snow and so we took lots of pictures and sent them to her phone so she could show the kids what "real" snow looked like.  Clayton had a great time playing in the snow, eating the snow, and he even tried to ride his tricycle in the snow, but it was too hard.

One weekend, we received almost two feet of snow.  We went out to Jacqui and Jared's house to plow their driveway and play in the snow. The temperature was in the teens but the kids had a good time.  Clayton took a ride on the four wheeler, but it froze his hands and face, so he headed into the house after that. 

Cooper and Jaxson had a blast building hills to sled down.  They outlasted everyone and really enjoyed the snow.  We haven't had this amount of snow in a long time.  In fact, I don't know if I have ever had this much snow since I lived in Utah.  Rumor has it that this was the 5th coldest year in Utah history.  It really was a cold winter with weeks and weeks under 20 degrees. 

One day, Clayton and I were outside shoveling the snow off the driveway.  Bryce decided to come out and help us.  I said to him, "Isn't this perfect snow?" He replied that he thought it was too heavy.  Here Clayton and I were using big snow shovels and he was using a small metal shovel, so I replied, "I didn't really I was married to a pansy."  He shoved me in the snow and threw snow on me. It was definitely worth the remark I made to him!

Every few months during the winter, Bryce will hop on the four wheelers and take them for a spin around the back yard to warm up the engine and batteries.  One day, the boys got on with him and they had a great time taring up the snow and going in circles around the yard! Both of the boys were in heaven and we cannot wait till riding season!