December

Aahhh December..the month we wait all year for......the month we throw a party for when it's all over:) This month passed as most Decembers do-- in whirlwind of activities, hustle and bustle, family and friends. The hardest part, for me, was doing it all without my Christmas fanatic-Jacob.  Nathan put lights around his bedroom window in Jacob's honor.  It all made us even that more thankful for "the Christmas call"...which actually was an hour or so on Skype!  It was wonderful to get to talk with Jacob and see first hand how chubby his cheeks are getting:) As it turns out, he had a great Christmas in Albuquerque this year.  The family he is living with  is wonderful and the missionary work is moving forward.  I hope he will send a few new photos to post on his blog soon.

So, back to our festivities.... the month started with Nathan's piano recital.  We took a video, but can't upload it.  From there it was a blur of concerts...Miranda was singing almost every night.  One of our favorites was when she sang at the Assembly Hall on Temple Square.  Of course, we took the opportunity to see the Christmas lights while we were there.  We actually ran into Ben and Alice there too. 

It was a fun, albeit cold, night.

*photo disclaimer-remember my camera broke on Thanksgiving.  All of these photos are courtesy of Matt's new iphone from work. Sadly, we didn't get very many photos this month ...oh well....my Christmas gift will remedy that problem in the upcoming year:) 

Tyler also had a band concert in the mix of the month.  He is getting so good a that sax!  We had our annual Hatch Family Christmas Party a week early this year. It was as crazy fun as it usually is..how can you go wrong with a table full of treats, a gumball machine filled with M&M's, 20 children, 16 adults, and crazy white elephant gifts like Obama toilet paper, a Mitt Romney chia pet, and a shave with me Barbie...it just doesn't get much better...unless, of course, you add the missing 17 family members in on the fun...

Next came our ward Christmas party where we had this "strange" group of high school carolers crash our Hawaiian Christmas:)--that second girl on the left is sure cute!

The evening was complete with pork sandwiches and Hawaiian dancers.  In the middle of their performance the Hawaiian dancers pulled people from the audience and taught them the Hakka...as it turns out, Nathan has a pretty good Hakka face...you might want to click on the picture to get the full effect:)

 And then school let out....aahhh the glories of being a teacher...2 weeks to sleep in....much needed I might add.  Oh..how the students and parents spoiled me before I left though....a slew of gifts, treats, and gift cards!  I was truly sad to say goodbye to my students and their cute smiles for two weeks, but I was Ooohhh so glad to say hello to my bed...crappy mattress and all.  I dare say, we've bonded much over this break.

But let's move on....to a terrible, sad, bad, mom moment...on December 18th my son turned 15 and I have 0 yes zero pictures to prove it! SADNESS!  However if I had taken photos, they might have looked like this...

 or this.....

both of which I have just stolen off of his newly opened Facebook account.  Lucky for me he has friends that do take photos of him.  For his birthday this year, Tyler didn't have a big get together.  On his actual birthday the only request I had was to make Indian bread with honey.  He did invite a few close friends to "hang out" --play video games, eat lunch at Wendy's, talk about the girls, etc.....a few days later.  I can hardly believe Tyler is 15.  I'm not sure I'm ready....I'm not sure the world is ready... But 15 he is.  Tyler continues to be a smart, fun, witty, and goofy kid that has taken to spending lots of time hanging out with his great friends, playing video games, wearing shorts all through the winter, and continuously whistling with his hands.  We are thankful he is a part of our family! We love him and all his quirks.

So, finally, amid much snow and festivities, The Day finally arrived.  As you can see Santa came and then the photos stopped.... Oh well, all you would have seen is Tyler and Nathan playing with electronics and Miranda sporting her new shoes and plenty of One Direction paraphernalia.

And now with the hustle over, Matt and I finally took time to celebrate our 21st wedding anniversary--yes, having a son's birthday, our anniversary, and Christmas all in one week IS a bit crazy!  This past weekend we farmed out kids out to friends and family and spent the night down south a bit.  We went to the movies and ate lots of yummy food.  We even checked out the new outlet mall at Traverse Mountain.  My favorite, of course, was Rodizio...Brazilian BBQ and limeades..YES PLEASE!

Let the new year begin!