Life is Good

Cute boys :)

Movie night :) Luke was laying down with the girls so cute and as soon as I got the camera out he started to roll around and get up :( But it was so dang cute before I interrupted.

Okay, so I just have to tell you all how grateful I am right now. There have been a number of things the last few days that have totally "worked together for our good". It's been a really stressful last few months (mostly because I am so impatient and lacking in faith) but the Lord has totally shown us His love these last few days. I just wanted to share of few of them with everyone, and get them written down so that I don't forget and get impatient and worried again.

So first- I found out we don't owe as much on our van as we thought. We are not upsidedown in it as we had been thinking, and we may be able to get some money out of it when we sell it to move. This was starting to really stress me out just because it was more money that we were going to have to come up with either to sell it or to ship it. So anyway- that was a huge relief and a total blessing.

Then we got the great news from my awesome sister Sarah that our tickets are going to be a LOT less and this means that we will for sure be able to move in December as planned! It's incredible to me that this could happen. It's a total miracle, and I am SO amazed at how the Lord works. I think I'm still in shock with it all, feels too good to be true :) But it's taken a huge load off. Thanks again Sarah!

Then, almost seconds later, we got the letter from the FAA for Nate to make his appointment for his ATSAT. This is the huge test that he has to pass in order to be a completely certified Air Traffic Controller. They use his score on this test when deciding who to hire. It's an 8 hour test and is a pretty big deal- obviously. Can you imagine going through all of this moving and schooling only to have him fail!! It's kinda crazy when you think about it that way, but no pressure Nate :) We know he will do great. He's got a few ways to study for it although it's really just about how smart and observant you are. They told him to play tetris to get ready for it :) Good thing he perfected the art of Tetris attack all those years ago- it just might come in handy now :) But anyway- we were waiting for that letter for quite a while now and wondering if it was ever going to come! The sooner he takes that test the sooner he can be considered for employment and now we know that it will be between the 22nd and 26th of October!! Such good news! We were also surprised to find out that he gets to take the test here in Anchorage afterall. We had thought that he was going to have to take it in Utah and that would mean coming up with the money to fly him down for his test, so we were very excited and very relieved- another huge blessing!

Another thing that I consider a miracle this weekend was the General Women's Conference meeting. I had so many thoughts and feelings during that meeting that really comforted me and settled a lot of things in my mind. I feel so much better about this move and I really feel now, like it is the right thing for us to move back to Utah. I wondered if it was before, but I didn't want to know because it was what I WANTED to do. So it was really wonderful to have that feeling and to know that it is what is best for us as well. There were a lot of other things weighing on my mind that I will not go into, but were completely eased last night. I feel like Heavenly Father is really in charge. He really does have a plan for us, and he will help us to carry out that plan. It's so amazing to me the blessings and miracles that I have been given in my life. My mind was just flooded with things that Heavenly Father has made possible for us. Even down to the fact that we have almost never had to buy clothes for our kids because of everyone else being so generous and sharing. We have done nothing on our own. No matter how far away we are; we are not alone. I hope I have never been ungrateful for the things we have received, but right now I am completely overcome with gratitude. Thank you to all of you. I hope someday to be able to "repay" all of you although I don't think there is anything I can do to match what has been done for us.

Anyway- I feel really good, and I feel really full of hope and excitement for our future. I feel like things are on the right track and we are headed toward that light at the end of the tunnel :) It's a really great feeling. I promise to be more uplifting and less negative and worried when I talk to you all. I really wish I had just shown more faith and not let myself get all stressed out about these things, I always know that things are going to work out, it's just being patient until I know how. That is the hard part for me. Things are good though and all is well.

Something else that really touched me yesterday---
When I got home from the General Women's Conference Charity was still having trouble with an earache that she had had the night before. At first I felt really bad that I had not been there for her all day (we had a big all day program thing for the conference), but when I sat down with her and was talking to all the kids I found out that Kelly had been her little Mommy while I was gone. I just about cried listening to all the things she had done for her big sister to "take care of her". Kelly is one of the most giving people when it comes to taking care of her siblings. She seriously spent most of the afternoon and all of the evening just making sure Charity had everything she needed. She passed up a walk with Daddy and the boys to stay home with Charity and then go to the Instacare with us. When we got to the Instacare she totally babied her- getting her books and helping her to be comfortable in the waiting room. Then when we got in the actual room Kelly was trying her best to distract Charity and help her take her mind off things- pointing out things in the room and stuff. It was absolutely adorable! I really appreciate my kids and what special spirits they are. Children are just so perfect. They are so innocent and so forgiving. It just about made me cry to think about how much Kelly loves Charity and how much she would sacrifice for her. It was neat. I love these moments because they help pull me through the times when they are not like this :) We all know those happen :) But it was nice. It was really the cherry on top for my weekend.

So I hope all of you down there in Utah are enjoying your SNOW!! I can't believe you guys got it before us! Can't say I'm jealous :) Lucky for you though, it will probably melt :) Lots of love!!

Kelly's First day of Preschool!

So I got with a couple of other moms in the ward and we are starting a little "Preschool" for our kids Kelly's age. Today was her first day. She was so excited!! It's only twice a week for an hour and a half at a time, so it's really simple, but I'm happy for her to have something of her own. She had a GREAT time today! As you can see she feels all grown up :) She talked about the letter "A" and ate Animal Crackers and played an Animal game, so it was a total blast :)

How to eat a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich

Luke has not yet decided to conform to the normal way of eating. He gets pretty creative. This was just one of the few times I have been able to catch him on video. This might be more boring than I am thinking, but the things I find funny in it: He totally notices the camera and then says "cheese" on his own; He totally just does his own thing; the way he eats his sandwich is pretty creative; he tells himself he wants "a bite" before he picks it up and takes one :); and I love how he smiles at the end of it. He's such a crack up- if you know Luke this is totally funny to watch- it's just him! Anyway- I thought it was blog-worthy ;)

Sweet-big-sister moment

Luke LOVES books and having Mom and Dad read them to him. Any free second that he has he goes and grabs a book. He is finally letting someone else read them to him and that special someone is his big sister Charity :) It's way cute to see Charity read to him. They're both the non-touchy-feely type, so it's almost hard to tell that they are reading together, but it's so sweet :) Charity feels special that he'll let her read. It's fun for me to see my kids do (and enjoy doing) things TOGETHER.

What a cool picture!!!

My cool sister Sarah made this picture out of the one I posted on here a few days ago, and is it not the coolest picture you have ever seen!!!!

She does some pretty amazing things with pictures for wedding announcements and such if anyone's interested- I will try to put the link to her portfolio on here somewhere, but so if you know anyone who's getting married or would be interested- she does a GREAT job!!

http://picasaweb.google.com/SarahDavisHatch/PhotoshopedPictures?authkey=hhqOQxoNkZQ

Kelly Singing I am A Child of God

Kelly was just singing songs for me on Sunday. She had a copy of some primary music in her had and she totally looks down at it like she's reading it :) She has a cute little voice!!

Feeding the last few ducks before they fly South

Love this picture

Too bad the camera was slow- they looked REALLY cute the first time I told them to turn around and say "cheese". This was kind of the aftershock :) still cute :)

It's FALL already!

Luke's so cute :)

Probably our last picnic at Cheney Lake :(

This was probably our last picnic at Cheney Lake. It was really cold, and the ducks were almost all gone. This was "OUR lake" for all our picnics and stuff, we made a lot of memories there. We're definitely going to miss it.

Kelly and Luke doing the dishes together.




Kelly got her HAIR CUT!!!!! A little while ago I suggested to Kelly that she should cut her hair and have it short again, and I kinda thought the idea would die out, but she sure hung on to that!! She was determined to get her hair cut!! She sure looks cute though and she ABSOLUTELY loves it! She likes it when people notice, so it was way cute when we picked Charity up from school and she took one look at Kelly and just went nuts with excitement for her! It was really cute. Fun sisters. If you talk to her she'll probably bring up her new hair cut :)


Brad wanted his picture taken too :) What a cute little guy he is!! (Oh! I mean BIG boy!)

Getting Brad's Sunday Night Wiggles out

His laugh is SO contagious- try to not laugh :) He loves his Daddy! I apologize ahead of time for the screaming (at least he only does it while he's laughing now). You MAY want to turn down your volume a little to begin with :)

Ants on a Log

So last Thursday Charity came home just half out of her mind with excitement because they had done their first COOKING PROJECT!!! She has been looking forward to this ever since the first day of school!! (SOOOOOO LOOOOONG!!!) So it was pretty crucial that we go out and buy all the ingredients so that she could come home and show everyone how to make it :) She's had this all planned out ever since she heard they would be cooking at school. So anyway- here are the ever-important pictures of her demonstrating this culinary masterpiece to her little chefs in training.

Everyone's so thrilled- Luke couldn't believe he was allowed to sit on the table for this one- it MUST be special!


I just like this picture because you can see how tired she was :) this is how she looks after a long day of Kindergarten.

Luke was being kinda funny- picking the raisins off as she would put them on. Kinda drove her crazy after a while, but we all had a good laugh :)


The finished product!!! (Minus a few raisins- apparently Luke ate more than we thought :))
It was funny because Charity said she "doesn't like the raisins or the celery- just the peanut butter". Kelly felt the same, and just about gagged on one of them. And Bradley choked a whole log down, but then refused to eat any at dinner :) Luke liked the raisins. So Nate and I had to eat the whole plate (sort of) at dinner :) Very fun little project though, and Charity was so proud of herself!! She can't wait for the next cooking project. I'm really glad she didn't stick to her idea of making this for dinner EVERY night! But it sure was cute!!

HE'S A BOY!!!!!

Today we went in for our 20 week ultrasound. It was so fun! The ultrasound equipment they used was totally high-tech and all updated so we got a cd with all the pictures and video that they did during the HOUR ultrasound! It was really neat. So far everything looks good- but our doctor has to see it all and let us know officially, but according to all the measurements and such- we are about a week ahead of what we thought (ya gotta love that!) course that doesn't mean they will take it a week earlier than they would have. The real due date (for anyone who's wondering is January 22nd) We of course found out his gender! HE IS A BOY!!!! We're totally excited! (congratulations to the other person that voted- you were right :) )Bradley is already claiming his as "HIS little brother- not Lelly's!" They're already fighting over him- how special is he! :)

Anyway- I put some pictures from our ultrasound on here for your enjoyment- most people seem to have a hard time seeing things on ultrasounds, so sorry if you can't figure out what everything is- if I could point things out for you I would, but hopefully my discriptions help a little- it helps that I've seen so many :) This video is just mostly of his legs kicking- kinda cute, short.

Here He Is!!!

I thought this one was of his leg moving more, but anyway- it's pretty good you can see how curled up he was. He really didn't move a whole lot during the ultrasound anyway :) But what a cute little guy!

here's the top of his head- you can see both sides of his brain



There's his cute little heart- all four chambers looked good.



This is how he was the whole time- just folded in half- if you can't tell that's his head near the bottom, and his legs up on the top- he is curled almost completely around-- flexible little guy.



and here's the famous turtle shot- "It's definitely a boy"-- He'll probably kill me for this one later :)

Here's his face- a front view



these are of his right arm and hand- so cute!



you can see his legs really good in these ones



these are his feet as if you are looking at the bottom of his feet



This is his handsome little profile- if you're not familiar with ultrasounds his nose is up toward teh top on the right side of the circle (head)- you can see his little hand there under his chin too :)