Blanket Thief

The Blanket Thief story started one night at dinner when Jessie was a baby.  I told the boys that Jessie woke up at night and walked into their room to remove their blankets.  That was why they often woke up with their blankets "kicked" off of them.  I told the story holding Jessie and demonstrating her walk. It became a story that the kids wanted me to retell many times.  I later told the story again when Noah was younger.

We recently purchased a camcorder and I thought I'd try it out.  Our computer came with Windows Live Movie Maker and I thought I'd give that a try too.  The program was very limited but it was fun to try.  This movie is the result of some fun times with the kids and hopefully will turn into some more adventures with the camcorder.  Hope you enjoy this experimentation.

Rajah! :)

This is our new Kitty Rajah (pronouced like the tiger off of Aladdin). :) He is a ton of fun and a real crack up. He gets really hyper at night so we can hear him scampering all over the house, and then in the morning he's totally calm. He purs SO loud! And I think he has something wrong with his meow cuz it's not very loud at all lol

Hope everyone is having a great summer! Can't wait to see everyone :)

Love You!

Here's sunset last weekend when Elizabeth and I took the big boat out for the first time. It was really nice to be able to get out there.

Larissa's Secret's to Happiness

I absolutely love this idea Talana :) I don't think my answers will be quite as good or as intelligent and thoughtful as yours but I'll do my best...

1. Having important conversations. Yeah it's fun to just chit chat but I love it when I can talk to a person and by the end I'm a little closer to that person and know a little more about them then when we first started talking.
2. Doing cliche activities. (Dancing in the rain, catching snowflakes on my tongue, singing in the shower, skipping down the road holding hands and singing "We're off to see the wizard!"ect...)
3. Hugs! :) nuff said....
4. Reading. As long as I'm being enlightened or my mind is being forced to think about it and keep up I love any book!
5. Seeing others smile because of something I did, whether it be because I was trying to be funny or just becasue I was being stupid and it made them laugh :) lol I don't really care
6. Making my mom laugh. She has the most gorgeous smile in my opinion and she has one of those laughs where when you hear it you can't help but laugh too!
7. Getting cute texts from my boyfriend...lol I know that sounds ridiculous and extremely "teenage girl" of me but I couldn't help it because it's the honest truth!
8. Listening to my siblings conversations when they don't know that I am....my favorites are between Taysa and Cade. But I also find it funny to be in the room next to the one where all the boys are playing Black Ops or whatever... When they are in a good mood they crack me up lol
9. Running. Ok...not the...."Get on the track and run a 63 second 400m for me Conger!" kind of running but when I just go out at sunset and I can run for 30 minutes with my iPod and just get that tightness in my legs that makes me feel like I'm actually doing work. Then the shower that comes right after that :)
10. Finally...not doing homework and reading and adding to the Hatch Family Blog instead!!!!

I just love you all that much <3

Springtime Fun

Jared was able to come home for a few days last week (FUN). The Easter Bunny left a note on our kitchen table explaining that he wanted to come when we could all be together as a family. (On a side note, we just had a little talk about honesty today and I couldn't help but feel like hypocrite, with the Easter Bunny thing and all. I hope they don't hate me someday).

Logan enjoying some jellybeans.
Our happy Noah!
Porter getting motion sick on the carousel. I guess we have Dad to thank for that.Isn't she cute.

Secrets to Happiness

Hey, fam. I've been thinking a lot about happiness lately. Isn't it funny how it's a little different for everybody? Really, I want to know what makes YOU happy, so I'll share my own list in random order to get the ball rolling.

1. Eating good food. Preferably lots of it and with people I really love. People I really like will do.

2. Knowing the difference between goals and dreams. Goals are dependent on me and only me. Write at least 50 words in my journal. Read the scriptures to the kids for 10 minutes every night. Go to bed by 10:30. Finish my book by Sunday.

3. Knowing the difference between getting things done and being busy. It's easy to be busy. Getting things done requires planning and diligence and sometimes patience.

4. Charles Dickens. Every word is butter. Sweet cream butter.

5. Oscar Wilde. Brilliant and absolutely hilarious.

6. Watching "Tangled" with my family. This movie has grown on me since the first time I watched it and I just love it. Makes me laugh and cry.

7. Playing "Just Dance 2" on the Wii. Before I know it we've all spent an hour or two laughing and sweating and dancing and oh-no-Porter's-going-to-be-late-for-school!!!!!

8. A nice walk in the sunshine.

9. Being grateful. It's just a baby step behind happiness. Baby steps. Ba-by steps... (If a certain movie doesn't immediately come to mind, it's okay. I love you anyway.)

10. ENJOY. "The Screwtape Letters" dedicates several pages to this subject. I can't compare with C.S. Lewis at his worst, so why try when he's at his best? Go look it up.

Now it's your turn!!!

We had a pretty big fund raiser this week down at the Truman Waterfront - the Taste of Key West. 60 or so restaurants bring dishes from their menu and donate it for tickets people buy and the money goes to the agency I work for. In 3 hours, they raised over $100,000. That's a lot of cheese.