Happy Birthday Gary, Dad, and Grandpa!!!

Happy Birthday to you! Thanks be to you for your example of patience and persistance. Dane has told me on various occasions what great life lessons you taught him on and off the field. You were not only his coach, but his dad. What an awesome experience to see growth in your son on and off the field. What a great example you are of setting a goal and accomplishing it no matter the obstacle to overcome. Dane always tells me that one of the best things you taught him was to always look at life situations with a positive attitude and you will be able to come away a better person in the end. Thanks for being an awesome grandpa! Although, we don't see you as often as we would like, you never cease to delight the grandkids with your creative ideas of entertainment. Thanks be to you for influencing others with your life lessons and example. We love and miss you! Have a great day!

Fun Day at the Park

The weather was absolutely beautiful today. It felt like spring was just around the corner. We have had the strangest weather this winter. It will be snowing one day and sunny and 60 the next day. The temp was in the low 60's and the sky was blue and felt the need to be outside. Em decided she wanted to go to the bigga park and so we went to the new park that is coincidentally just across the main road from our house. We played on the slides, swung on the swings, rode the bouncy animals, and Dane and Em did the see-saw together. E is still not sure what to think about the park, but Em had so much fun - she didn't want to leave. I can't wait for spring to enjoy more family time at the park.

Easton Update

Easton's rash and hives are basically gone, but he goes through cycles where he will break out with a rash with white-red raised spots. We are hopeful this will soon subside, but wonder if he might need a blood test to try to figure out what is prolonging his reaction. We wonder if he might have a dairy allergy. Hopefully, within the next week we can help our little, Eastie figure out his allergies and get him some relief!

Easton Pushing His Scooter

Happy Valentine's Day

Dane and I opted to keep it simple this year - cards and a foot massage. The kiddos didn't get much, but a Minnie and Mickie pez dispenser that Eme thoroughly enjoyed and had most of the candy eaten by the time we arrived home from church. We had our ward conference and Dane did an excellent job. We had a yummy meal of Lemon-Orange chicken, rolls, corn, and apple crisp. We enjoyed spending time together and watching the Olympics. It was a fun, relaxing day.

Grammy and Poppy

Grammy and Poppy were able to come over and watch the kiddos while Dane and I went to the Stake Dance with the Youth for the Valentine's Sweetheart Dance. It is so fun to have my parents close by and I love to see how excited the kiddos get when Grammy and Poppy come to visit. What great babysitters they are. They brought out a cute outfits for Em and East and a book for each (Em-sticker/princess book and East-truck pop-up book). My parents are always so generous! Thanks also for the gift card to Chili's. Dane and I look forward to using it! Dane and I had a good time just being together.

Baby Shower

The Young Women in our ward wanted to throw a shower for Lisa and Baby "Z". We decided to extend the invitation to all the women in the ward to help celebrate the birth of Baby "Z". I volunteered to host the shower at our home and Patty helped with the yummy fruit and apple juice. Sarah was awesome and made the cutest diaper cake. Thanks Kelly and Sarah also for providing a yummy treat to take home and the paper products. It was fun to see the clothes and other baby items Baby "Z" received. It was fun to have all who could attend come. Congrats Lisa and John on the arrival of Baby "Z".

Cinderella "Eme"

Eme was invited to attend her first friend birthday party today, but due to the germs we've had circulating around our home the last week we declined. Eme's friend, Mag is prone to getting pnemonia from the common cold and so any type of germs can send her into a downward spiral health wise. I told her she could dress-up in her princess dress anyway and help me collect gifts at the baby shower. She loves to dress-up.

Vancouver Olympics 2010

I love the Olympics. I love that throughout the day while they are happening you can get up-to-date posting of how the Team USA is doing. I love to watch snowboarding, ice dancing, figure skating, speed skating, and all other events. It is fun to think that this is a time when everyone comes together with one goal in mind - to celebrate the athletic spirit. It is fun to watch the inspiring stories of athletes and what challenges and obstacles they had to overcome to make it to the Olympic level. I love to watch and I am always sad when they end. This Olympics is neat because it is close to home for Dane. He grew up 1 hour southwest of Canada. Go Team USA!!!!

Snow Day

Yesterday, we woke up to snow on the ground. First thing in the morning we had a bit of snow on our roof, lawn, sidewalk, etc. When Eme woke up the first thing she wanted to do was look out her window and then to get outside. We continued to watch the snow pile up throughout the day. The snow just kept coming down consistently all day. Eme was so excited to have Dane come home and play in the snow with her. They played in the snow for 30-40 minutes as soon as he got home and even attempted a snowman, but failed. We were grateful to Grammy for getting Em some snowpants because they came in handy. With continued snow throughout the day Thursday and into the early morning hours today, we received 12 inches of snow. To my knowledge, since moving to Texas in 1990, I have never seen this much snow at once ever. Because of the slush, the freezing temperatures on Friday morning made the sluch ice and Dane was able to use some leave to stay home Friday and not risk the treacherous road conditions today. It was so fun to have him home on a Friday. We took it easy and made yummy sugar cookies. It was a fun 2 days of snow and play. I love the snow, but in many ways I don't mind seeing it go quickly either!

"Hatchy Balentime's Day" (As Eme Says It)

Eme woke up today to find this gift outside her door. Dane had left a new scripture case with her own Book of Mormon (small version) inside to have with her during our family scripture study. She was so proud of her new "purse" and carried it around all day. She gets excited for family scripture study now because she has her very own set of scriptures to use.

Easton's Rash/Hives and Linds's Trip to the ER

Friday was a bad day in the Hatch household. I started to get a headache early in the afternoon while spending some time with my sister-in-laws, mom, and niece and nephew. Then as we were getting ready to leave my dad's office for a little visit from the grandkids, I noticed Easton's hands were swollen and that he was getting little red bumps on his face and the back of his neck. I quickly called our pediatrician and they stated that they wanted him to come in asap because he had been on amoxicillin for a week and were concerned he was having an allergic reaction. They got us in to our doctor immediately and I knew it was bad as I got him undressed and he had hives from head to toe. Our doctor was sure that he had an allergic reaction to amoxicillin and immediately gave him a syringe of Benedryl. We went on our way with instructions to continue the Benedryl every 6 hours. Meanwhile, while driving home I began to feel light-headed and short of breath. Things continued to get worse and I begin to feel pain in my heart and tightness in my chest. I told Dane we needed to go to the hospital because something wasn't right. We loaded into the car and I felt so lethargic all the way to the hospital. We went to the ER (you get in when you get in) and they did an EKG - which showed my heart to be normal. They decided to keep me though and moved me to a room. I continued to have discomfort and they did 3 vials of blood to test the functioning in my body, a CT scan, another EKG, and a stress test. I ended up staying overnight and was there a total of 16 hours. Dane went home during the night to be with the kiddos. Thanks Josh and Kallie for taking the kiddos at the hospital so Dane could concentrate on my condition. Diagnosis - normal and nothing was wrong with my heart - thank goodness. They felt I had a viral infection which can often mimick the signs of a heart attack. Back to Easton - we went into the after hours pediatrician clinic this morning because his feet, hands, and ears had swollen up to huge proportions. They gave him a steroid for 4 days to help with the swelling and continue to give the Benedryl.

Wiggle Town

We spent our Friday together at Wiggle Town (which is an indoor play area with slides, bounce house, game area) for the little ones. At first, Em and Syd were scared to participate, but with time and encouragement Em was ready to go down the slide. She went down with me first and then Kallie became her slide partner. Thanks Kallie for being a good sport! Easton even liked going down the slide. We might need to wait a while before the kiddos will really enjoy this type of entertainment.