A few things we have been up to

It has been awhile since I have posted. Here is a quick update of what we have been up to. I have lost the charger for my camera so these pictures are all from my phone. I do not have a fancy phone so they are not the best quality photos.

My sweet Whitlee, she is almost two and so much fun. She is a sweetheart and keeps us going.

For Mother's Day we had Dustin's sister and her boyfriend over for a Bar-b-que. We also had his nieces and nephew.

 We have had the wonderful opportunity of having Dustin's two nieces and nephew spend a lot of time in our home. They come over a few nights a week for dinner and we get to do fun things with them. Since Dustin is gone a lot for work it is fun to have some company.

 Whitlee is a little bit of a Daddy's girl. I was hoping that I would have one kid that preferred me, but it isn't looking good so far.

 One Saturday, while Dustin was at work, we went for a long Rhino ride. I guess the vibrations put them right to sleep. They slept almost the entire way.

My little sassy girl. She loves to wear boots. I think it is because they are easy for her to put on by herself.

 I love spending time with this sweet boy. He melts my heart every day with his sweet hugs and kisses.

 Dalley was hiding while they were taking a cow that had calved to the barn to be milked.

 I decided to teach Dalley about plants and how seeds grow. We spent an hour talking about what will make a seed germinate and keep a plant growing then we planted some seeds that he chose so he could watch the process and learn to take care of them.

 This girl is such a show off. I love her so much.

 I called the kids one Saturday and told them I wanted to go do something fun. We decided to drive up Birch Creek for a picnic. We had a lot of fun hiking around and exploring and had a fun picnic.

 A cool tunnel we found while exploring by East Zion

I have been experimenting with my camera settings, I really like this picture of me little bug.

I put my garden in my raised flower beds because our pet rabbits eat any plants we try to plant lower. Miss Whitlee helped me get the flower bed ready for planting.

Sunday afternoons we go for walks. Dalley rides his bike and hunts for rocks.

We usually head down to the baby calves on our walks so the kids can have them suck on their fingers.

He is always stopping to pick up rocks. We had to create a rock garden to keep all of his rocks together. His shirt and pant pockets are always full of rocks.

We have been having Family Home Evening every week with our friends the Sudweeks. After the lesson we usually hang out and play a little while.The boys love to create swamps. I put food coloring in vinegar and fill a pan with baking soda and it will entertain them forever. I go through a lot of baking soda and vinegar. It is a good thing they are cheap.

A couple of weeks ago we headed with our friends to Panguitch to watch a movie. We ate at the local drive in then went to the movie and of course had to end it with ice cream.

Cedar City had a fun aquatic center. We took the kids swimming one weekend. Dustin was such a good sport to go in with the kids and they had a great time.

Whit got really tired at the pool

This is what most mornings look like, we usually have an extra or two by morning.

Miss Whitlee broke her arm at Grandma's house on Christmas. It was not a fun six weeks with a cast.

She got to where she barely even noticed she had the cast on

The day she got her cast off was a wonderful day. I was glad when it was over. I learned what an amazing thing the human body is. Whitlee's healing was amazing.

The three people that make up my whole world

Can you tell that Dalley wants to be just like Daddy?

Top 12 of 2012

Here are the Top 12 events of 2012

1. Yellowstone Vacation- I was supposed to go to North Carolina for two weeks at the end of July first of August. Dustin's sister Haley offered to go with me so I could take my kids. I was able to talk my boss out of sending me, but since Haley had already asked for the time off we decided to take a week vacation instead. We headed to Yellowstone and toured a bunch of the surrounding sights as well.
2. Roger Hatch Family Reunion- At the end of June we were able to enjoy a reunion with my dad's family in Cedar City. It was fun to see a lot of family we don't see very often.
3. Grandparent's 60th Anniversary- We were able to join my grandparents in celebrating 60 years of marriage.
4. Whitlee turned 1- My sweet little Angel baby turned 1 on June 7. She had two parties and plenty of cake.
5. Dalley turned 4- My little cowboy turned 4 on February 28th. I did a party for him at school and we had a family party that night.
6. Dustin got a new Job- After 7 years of working 70+ hours a week with very little recognition, Dustin was able to quit and go work for my brother. It has been a good change. He is now at a job where his abilities with horses and cows are appreciated, and he feels good about the work he is doing.
7. I achieved 10 years at my career-On May 7, 2012, I achieved my ten year pin. It is crazy to think that I have been working at this job this long. I worked a year in Cedar and have been in Panguitch 9 years. I am very blessed to be able to say that I still love what I do and I still feel like we are making a positive change in Agriculture.
8. I got a promotion- Five years ago I was promoted to be the District Director over the Upper Sevier District. there are only 10 District Directors in the state. I have been  paid less than all of the other Directors for the last five years. This year I was able to request a desk audit where they analyzed the work I was doing to determine if it deserved a a higher pay grade. They determine that I literally was working above my pay grade. It was a huge deal for me when they promoted me this last November. It felt good to have my work recognized
9. We were able to make about ten trips to Hiko this year- It is a lot less than I would like, but I am glad that we get to go as much as possible. If I had my way we would live closer to my parents. I was so blessed to live close to my grandparents growing up and I wish my kids could have the same opportunity. Until we find a way to move out there we are just going to have to go out as much as possible.
10. Family dinners-Dustin has two nieces and a nephew that live here in Circleville with their dad. Their dad works long hours 4 nights a week and they are home alone all of the time. We were able to start having them come over on the nights their dad works to have dinner with us. It has been such a blessing. They are good kids and it is fun to have them around. Feeding three more people has definitely dented my grocery bill, but it has been totally worth it.
11. Thanksgiving- I love thanksgiving and spending time with Family. We went to Hiko this year and spent Thanksgiving with my parents and Luke's family. then on Friday Rowdy's family came down and we were able to spend time with them.
12. Christmas and New Year's- We headed out to Nevada again for Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve with my grandparents then Christmas day with my parents and Luke's family. rowdy and Shauna came for New Year's. I took two weeks off work and the kids and I spent the whole time in Hiko. I can't think of any better way to spend the Holidays

This last year was a great one. Full of ups and downs and changes. My family is so blessed and I would change any part of it!

Catch-Up

I have not updated for awhile so I thought I would post some pictures of what we have been up to. These are in no particular order. Also I can't figure out how to turn them, so sorry if you get a crinked neck.

 Miss Whit was a pirate princess for Halloween.

 I got Whit's costume in like June on sale so then Dalley just had to be a pirate too. We had to paint his hair black because he has never seen a yellow haired pirate. It is funny how much the black hair and facial hair changed his looks. He was in a costume parade for school and I had to miss it so my friend Claudia went to take pictures for me. She had to have  the teacher point him out cause she didn't recognize him.

Dustin bought Whit this stuffed pony a couple of weekends ago and she is attached to it. She had to take it to the trunk or treat with her.

 

I LOVE this face, she has the most mischievous little personality and I love it.

My pouty boy. I love this face too, even though it is pouting

My handsome boy on his first day of school

We drove up on the mountain for FHE one night and my little poser let me do a little photo shoot

Miss Whit, all ready for church in the dress Claudia gave her for her birthday

These two play so good together. Dalley is very protective of his little sister. He takes good care of her. He even naps on the floor by her crib at the babysitters house so she doesn't have to nap alone.

Dalley proud of the salsa we made this year. We did it during conference so I had a lot of help from my mom, dad and Dustin.

This picture just makes me smile. I love how he has his corral set up with a loading chute and everything. I love how observant he is.

My cute cowboy

Conference weekend Dustin hit a cow coming in from the range. He had a load of horses on the trailer and it sure did a lot of damage. We are so thankful that no one was hurt. It could have been devastating. We are so blessed. 

Dalley doing his online preschool. Last year we got an invitation to sign him up for the upstart program. He loves doing it. he does it as well as a three day a week preschool and I can't believe the things that he is learning. It is also amazing how well he can use the computer. These programs are so cool.

60 years

 Back in August, my amazing grandparents celebrated 60 years of marriage. What an amazing accomplishment! I am so proud of them and so impressed by their example. They are a great example of love and devotion. They have one of those cute relationships where they both live for each other and would be lost without each other. I am very blessed to have had their example in my life and I am very thankful for it. My grandpa is a true cowboy and my grandma really is an angel. They are a match made in heaven.

To celebrate, their children planned a surprise weekend. All of their kids, along with some of their grand kids and great grand kids, gathered at their house on Friday night. When they got home from the doctor we were all waiting in their living room. It was really cute how excited they were to have everyone there. We hung out and had cake and ice cream. Then the next day we had a BBQ. When we were headed down the second day Dalley asked me if we were going to have to hide again. He liked hiding when we were waiting to surprise them. It was good to see a bunch of relatives and to celebrate my grandparents great accomplishment.

Dalley and Nana making cookies for the BBQ

He is a great little cookie baker

We found a pair of Ryan's old chaps for Dalley to wear

These two are always up to something

Whit loves Papa

Whit with Uncle Scott

Uncle Denny got them this nice cake

My cute grandparents

My cute little Whit

Whit and aunt Darlene

                                                       Whit and Great- Grandma Hatch

Cousin Lukie helping Whit walk

My brother Luke and his wife, Kayce

On Friday morning I took the kids out to ride Taco. He is Luke's miniature. We saddled him up and put a bridle on him. He was not used to the bridle so we were getting him used to it. I led him down into the fields with Dalley riding. When we got into the fields, Dalley decided he wanted to try riding him alone. The minute he tried to turn him, Taco went to bucking. Dalley lasted three bucks then hit the ground. He was pretty miffed until Lukie told him that watching Dalley ride was just like going to the rodeo. After that he thought he was quite the hot shot.