Grandma Hatch and Cooper

Cooper and Grandma watched Aristocats, while they snuggled up in a blanket and nibbled on some popcorn. I love it when Cooper gets to spend time with his grandparents, especially when it is one-on-one.

We went to the Roy Aquatics Center a couple of weeks ago and the kids had such a great time. Cooper loves the water and he is good about always wearing his life jacket, which makes me feel better. It's just fun to watch him play and he has a "never-ending" smile on his face.
Tyler and his friend, Cody, talked Mom into going down the steep slide. I was surprised she would do it, but she actually enjoyed it. I missed her picture bc my camera was too slow. She is alot braver than I am.
Little Landon loves the water and was crawling all over like a mad man. He kept venturing out into the deeper water, so we had to keep a close eye on him. He honestly thought he was in heaven!

Uncle Lynn

On Sunday, July 19, my uncle Lynn, passed away in his home surrounded by his wife, children, and other family members. Lynn courageously battled colon cancer for the past two years of his life. I got to know my uncle better in the last year of his life then all the years before.

I also learned alot about him at his funeral. He was a great man who gave years of service to the community. He was in the National Guard, he was a member of the Beaver Ski Patrol for forty years, he worked on city council in Wellsville for over 20 years and he loved to spend time with his family.

My aunt April and Lynn were perfect for each other and April helped him really come out of his shell. It was so neat to see the love that they had for each other. I want to thank April for being so wonderful. She is such a great part of our family and we would not be the same without her. She is one of my most favorite people ever. I love you April.

Lynn will be missed by us all but hopefully, our memories of him will live on. I know that he is happy now and finally at peace. I know he is surrounded by love ones, including my son, Clayton. I know that he is learning and growing and waiting till he will be reunited with his parents, wife, and children once again. We love you and miss you Lynn.

Clayton Update

On July 10, we went in for our ultrasound and appt. I was 28 weeks along. Sean, Kellye, and Cooper came with me. The doctor was nice enough to get some close-ups of Claytons face. Clayton weighed 3.5 pounds and the doctor said he was doing well. My glucose and iron blood test came back normal and my blood pressure was also normal.

Clayton is moving around so much now and it is neat to see my belly have a bump that moves across it at different times through out the day. The other night, I started reading some books to Cooper, and Clayton was moving all over the place. Cooper loves to give Clayton hugs and talk to him through my stomach.
It was fun to show Sherrie's kids my book that shows pictures at each month of development of a baby. Wesley, especially, thought it was neat. I am starting to get quite a bit of back aches and swollen feet, but that is to be expected. All in all, I have had a good pregnancy, so I cant' complain.

Sean and Kellye

It was so much fun to have Sean and Kellye come up to visit us. We had such a great time and Cooper enjoyed getting to know them better.

Some of the things that we did while they were here:

1. They came to church with us; but the best part of sacrament meeting was hearing some visitor bust out in her own opera chorus to the national anthem; We all started looking around trying to figure out who was singing like that; Sherrie and Miceala could not control themselves; it reminded us of when we were little and we used to make fun of people who sang like that (I know, so mean of us! I'll admit, we were brats!)

2. Playing walleyball with Jocie, Kyle, Steph, Paul, Dave and Natalie...it was funny to watch how competitive Sean still is with sports...and Kellye would not put up with some of his comments

3. We went boating with the family out to Glendale Lake.

4. We went to the Paradise Town Center for a bbque and a "boot scootin concert" from a local band. Sean and Kellye were cold when the sun started dropping so they had to pull out their cardigans! After that, we drove up to Porcepine Dam to throw rocks and look at the beautiful scenery. Sean and Kellye spent most of their time taking cute pictures of themselves!

5. They came with us to Bryce's work party up the canyon. They got to go on a little 4-wheeler ride and eat some good grub with us, before they were off to see Dave and Natalie.

Sean and Kellye, thanks for coming to see us. We had such a great time with ya'll. We miss you and wished you lived closer, but we will take the visits as much as you can come see us.

4th of July

We celebrated the 4th of July this year with lots of family. We all went over to Jacqui and Jared's for dinner and the kids had a great time swimming in the little pools. Sherrie, Brian, Sean and Kellye were all in town from Texas so it was so much fun to have us all together.
We grilled steak and chicken fajitas, made queso, and ate lots of brownies and cheesecake. The weather was nice, so we were able to sit out in the shade in the backyard and just visit with each other.We didn't go to the actual fireworks, but thanks to Paul and Brian, we had plenty of small fireworks for the kids to enjoy in the front yard.
Thank you Jacqui and Jared for letting us come crash your home and yard. We all had a great time!

Sisters Day Out!

When Sherrie was up visiting a few weeks ago, we went out for a few hours with just the sisters. Thanks to Steph (she arranged babysitters) we were able to enjoy our day without the kids. First, we went to Great Harvest for lunch. They have the best "pesto turkey sandwiches" and pumpkin chocolate chip bread. We were not in any hurry so we just spent time talking and eating great food.

After lunch, we went to the local beauty college and got pedicures. The girls doing our feet did not know we were sisters at first and then when they found out, they were surprised. The pedicures felt great and it was fun to just spend some time together with all four sisters. We don't get the chance very often! I hope my sisters know how much I love them and they mean the world to me. I am so thankful for each one!

The 2nd Annual Douglas Family Reunion

About three weeks ago, we had our family reunion up at grandpa's mountain. As we were on our way to the campsite, the weather was so stormy and raining. I was really worried that we were going to spend our camping trip in a mess of mud. Well, when we got up past Smithfield, the weather was actually nice and we only had a little rain the rest of the day.

It was so much fun to watch the kids interact and play with each other. We cut down a few leaning trees and Brandon made them into a little ladder. I think the kids played on the ladder more than anything else. They would jump from the ladder to a branch and then swing to the ground.
Coopers favorite part of the reunion was going on a 4 wheeler ride with mom and dad. He sat on Bryce's lap and we went up the trail for about 45 minutes. Cooper looked so cute in his little helmet. When I pulled up next to him, he said, "Mom, we need to get some of these." Bryce took Cooper to break some snow on the trail. They thought that was pretty cool.
On the second day, we went down to Bear Lake to go swimming for a few hours. The kids had a great time even though the water was pretty cold. They spent most of their time in the little pools of water behind the sand. The Lake was beautiful as always.

Some of the activities that we enjoyed were: 1. the men playing horseshoes 2. sitting around the campfire quoting movie lines 3. going on walks 4. watching the kids play with each other 5. making great food for all our meals; 6. It was just fun spending time with each other

We all had a great time up there as a family. We missed Bruce and Jill and hope that they will be able to make it next year!

Dinosaur Delight

Last week, Jocelynn and Stephanie brought the kids down to go to the Dinosaur Park with Me, Sherrie and Jacqui. There are many activities for the kids to do and they had a great time.

Part of the park has a shaded area where the kids take brushes and brush away the sand to find dinosaur bones and eggs. This is Annika and Cooper trying to uncover this dinosaur bone.

Reese, Annika, and Addie posing in front of a T-rex. The girls had a great time together!

Inside the museum, they have lots of artifacts, dinosaur bones, and statues of dinosaurs. The kids thought this whooly mammoth was cool.