Gingerbread Houses and Santa Cookies

The Monday before Christmas we had our traditional Gingerbread House making get together at the Hatch Home. It was oodles of fun as always, with Tyler and Travis competing as best architect and Keshia and Jezerea working hard to make something unique (this year it was a carousel). This year, the kids also got to make their own houses and that was way fun to watch. Both Steven & Ben did a great job.I loved the snowman Benny made by his house and I loved all the stories Benny made about about the bears and other things he stuck to his house. 

I had to leave early for one last girl's night so I didn't get a picture of Tyler's finished skyscraper but I'm sure, as you can tell from the pictures, it was pretty amazing. Travis apparently made a taller one but it was a lot less beautiful and a lot more botched together- or so Tyler says  ;)

The next day, Christmas Eve, we got together with my family to make cookies for Santa. My cousin, Breezy, was in town so she joined us. Rebecca was in charge of the cookies and they were made from scratch and tasted amazing! I was in charge of decorating materials which I failed at because apparently we were out of everything I thought we had. So there were lots of improvisations... As always though, it was lots of fun and very tasty:

Graduated

On Wednesday, December 18, 2014 Tyler graduated from ASU! It was truly a momentous occasion in the Hatch family for so many reasons. One reason being that he was the first in his family to graduate from college. Another reason being that he had worked 8 long years with me by his side (and a couple years before me) to obtain this degree. It was such a long, hard journey for both of us. When I was working full time as a teacher and a mom, there were plenty of times that I resented his need to go to school and I resented the fact that school was so hard for him. But he stuck with it and I stuck with him. And through it all he juggled so much: classes, homework, regular work, plumbing, cleaning the offices, church callings, and being a dad and husband.

And he made it! I couldn't be more proud of him and more grateful. I appreciate his ability to see the big picture and to have the insight that once he obtained this degree, things would be easier. And they are. I am now able to be a stay at home mom and instead of 3 jobs, he has 1. Just 1! 

Here are my silly kids at the ASU graduation at the Wells Fargo Arena:

The graduation ceremony itself was actually not that boring. There were some pretty silly speakers (these engineers actually have a sense of humor). There was also a fun rendition of "What does the fox say." However, Lucy was not amused by the speakers and I spent most of the time walking the aisles with her...

Tara took some pictures after the graduation. Hopefully I get those someday :)

That weekend we celebrated his graduation and our move to Michigan. It was a hopping party with plenty of friends and family present and lots of yummyness to partake of (hot chocolate, donuts, chips, pizza rolls...). My mom even had some games for the kids to play (throwing "snow balls" and making snowmen).

Here is Tyler with his Scouts and then a few others I took (I'm never good at remembering to take pictures at parties):

Michigan

This past week we went to Michigan to find a home to rent. For the first few days it was snowing and as we walked from car to wherever, I thought I could handle the weather. It wasn't THAT cold. But then Sunday happened. And oh my goodness it was the same temp as the previous days (20 degrees) except their was wind chill. Wind chill made the temp's real feel 8 degrees. 8 degrees is COLD! So on days like that, I might freeze to death....

Pretty much we spent the trip house hunting and eating...we do love eating. I have to say I approve of Michigan food. Their breakfast food and ice cream was AmAzInG, and their Mexican food will do. Besides they have pretty much every restaurant we have which is very comforting :)

Ok we did do other things besides seeing homes and eating. We did go see "Catching Fire" (super good), we got to see downtown Detroit (which had beautiful architecture but was depressingly vacant) and we got to see the temple in West Bloomfield (so much smaller than I am accustomed to) but still beautiful;

And although our real estate agent was not the best, we did end up finding an amazing home to lease! I love it! It is small but has plenty of storage space so it's perfect. It has an unfinished basement for Tyler to keep his tools and for us to store things. It also has a detached garage that has a second floor which could be used for more storage OR for a "fort" for the kids. I can't wait to get there and take pictures of the inside when it's officially ours. 

Snow Day

So this week things are finally *sort of* coming along with moving. The relocation adviser finally got in touch with us. We found out that the movers will pack our stuff and GM will ship our cars there. These are steps in the right direction. I also found out that I needed to book my own trip to Michigan for house hunting purposes, so that is done. 

This week we will go and look at all 2 houses that I was able to find online (there were more, but either too expensive, too far away or too small). Super. It seems we are either going to have to settle for a very small space (1400 square feet) or settle for an expensive rent ($1400/mnth). Tis the lot of having a large family. Maybe I'll get lucky and the real estate agent they set us up with will prove helpful or maybe one of the property management companies will call me back and have some awesome homes for us. Fingers crossed!

And though my major planner aheader self continues to feel stressed about all the unknowns that I can do nothing about, I was able to have some fun with the kids. We went with Oliver & Mikey Dude to a bank's way awesome Snow Day! They didn't advertise the event as well this year which was AWESOME for us, no waiting and no crowds equals lots of fun. The kid's pigged out on doughnuts, sat in a firetruck, and got balloon swords. Steven once again loved the Bounce House and Bounce Obstacle Course. And then of course there was the snow:

And we got to see a way better looking and nicer Santa than Bass Pro Shop for absolutely NO wait!!!

Oh and let me end with a "tender mercy" moment. I was having one of those mornings where I was feeling overwhelmed with everything. One of the things on my to do list for the day was to check second hand stores for winter clothing for Lucy, she was still really lacking but I was dreading spending more money that I didn't have. And wouldn't you know that as I was thinking of when I was going to be able to shop for these clothes I got a text from my visiting teacher asking if I needed any winter clothes for Lucy, she had a whole bin of some that her daughter had outgrown. Tender mercy! Now I have a ton of clothing for Lucy and it was all the stuff I needed. Just another reminder that my Heavenly Father loves and looks out for me. We are truly so blessed! 

Holidays

Last Saturday I took the kids to the Bass Pro Shop Winter Wonderland. I thought if we hit it before Thanksgiving, we would hit it before it got crazy. But I was severely disappointed :(. Apparently all the rain that day had driven us silly Arizonians indoors and it was super crowded.I had promised the boys a visit with Santa but there was an hour and half wait before we could stand in line and then once in line, it would be another half hour wait. I just didn't think it was going to happen seeing how I was on my own with 3 kids but I decided to play it by ear. If the kids cooperated and had fun at the store for an hour and half then we would see Santa.

Well, they did. They had fun racing remote control cars, shooting toy guys, riding the carousel, looking at all the cool camping stuff and of course, watching all the cool fishes:

So, when our turn to stand in line came, we went. And I was feeling really good! The line was moving along, there were only a handful of kids in front of us and everyone was happy- even Lucy! And then....Santa decided to take an unexpected break. You could tell it was unexpected because the Elves all looked panicked. And as we waited a long 20 minutes for him to mosey on back, Lucy began to loose it. And when he finally did come back and it was our turn to go up- boom! She broke her fancy necklace and there were beads everywhere (so depressing!). And then I attempted to get her to sit with a no speak Santa (seriously- he didn't even ask the kids what they wanted, it was so weird) she screamed out in bloody terror. So no Lucy in this picture but at least I got a picture of the boys with Santa (even if he was a weirdo Santa):

Also, this week was Thanksgiving! Yay for spending time with family! We enjoyed a nice morning and afternoon with my family, pigged out nice and fine on Thanksgiving food (had a smoked turkey this year and it was AMAZING!), then hung out at Tyler's house and when night time came- it was Black Friday time (well technically it's Black Thursday now). I actually got Tyler to come with me because he was in need of some winter clothing  and wanted to pick it out himself. And though he complained quite a bit, it was still fun to have him there. It was a nice, late night date night. And we scored a lot of good winter coats and sweaters!

The next day, the boys insisted on decorating the tree, I was feeling exhausted from the night before and let them have at it...

And then later after they were sleeping I got a second wind and finished decorating it and even put up a few decorations (not too much this year since we will be moving *hopefully* right after Christmas). Here is the boys with the finished tree the next morning:

Answers

So we are officially moving to Michigan. This past week I have definitely had the answer to my prayers and I have felt that peace and affirmation that we should go to Michigan, I especially felt that when we were in the temple. But when you leave the peace of the temple, it's easy to forget all that. I still have lots of emotional moments... moments of sadness, anxiety, worry. I think it's only natural when you are moving so far from home to a place that is so unlike where you have lived for the past 28 years of your life and a place that you have never even seen. But I would like to share my moments of personal revelation. Moments that I am going to need to hold on tight to when doubt creeps in.

The first night Tyler got the offer, right after I said a prayer asking if we should go, I read a conference talk by Henry Eyring called To My Grandchildren. When I read the part where Eyring spoke about how his mother moved far away from her own widowed mother so his father could support his family, I felt an overwhelming sadness and I will admit that I bawled. I think even at that moment I knew we needed to go and I knew how very much I was going to miss my mom.

Then on Saturday night Tyler & I went to the temple with a hope to find comfort and peace in our decision to move to Michigan. As we prepared to go, I was worried it would be too crowded and I really wanted to have time afterwards to talk with Tyler but the Lord blessed us and we were literally able to walk right in to do sealings. Then while doing a sealing I felt a very distinct impression that this was all I needed, my spouse, my children. It doesn't matter where we are, as long as we are together. It was an amazingly peaceful moment.

Also, throughout this process I kept remembering a talk I heard, I couldn't remember where, that had spoken about how there wasn't one right location to live, the church could use you anywhere. I couldn't remember who or any of the exact details but wouldn't you know that my good friend quoted it in a comment she made on my last blog. She wrote how the speaker said people would call the Stake President asking for advice on the safest neighborhoods, best schools and strongest wards but "not once did anyone ask where their family would be needed the most." Going to a place that won't be so filled with members was definitely a worry for me but this talk helped me realize that I need to stop being so self-focused. Who knows who we can impact there. Their will certainly be a lot more missionary opportunities in Michigan than we have here. And honestly, though I am normally terrified of speaking to others in general, I weirdly feel very excited about this...

And I will end this lengthy post by just saying that though I may not sleep well at night and my stomach may be in a constant churn, I know that's just me being me and I know that our family belongs in Michigan for the next few years, we really do. And though it won't be easy and I will probably miss AZ like crazy the Lord has a purpose for us there. If nothing more then to just make us a closer, stronger family. And despite my crazy emotions, I am excited for this adventure, I really am!

Changes & God

On Tuesday GM in Milford called and offered Tyler a job. The offer came a lot sooner than expected and now we have a big decision to make. Logically it makes sense: it is his only job offer, they had given a salary bracket and chose the higher end, they are offering him a sign on bonus (that'd be useful for buying winter clothes), he'll have a good amount of paid time off (16 holidays & 3 weeks vacation), and most importantly its his dream job! BUT we'll be 33 hours away from our families in freezing cold weather. And the LDS population will certainly not be what it is here. And there are just a lot of scary unknowns (like how unearth are we going to all of 5 of us and our van and truck and all our stuff to a place 33 hours away!?) so right now we're doing a lot of praying and pondering. On Wednesday he is flying up to Michigan so hopefully we'll either be 100% in or out by then. 

On a completely different note: The other day Benny drew a picture and said, "This is God." We weren't really sure that he was really saying God at first so we asked a couple of times for verification. Once confirmed, Steven asked, "Why is he so big?" Ben replied, "Cause he just grows big." That boy is so profound ;)