A Quilt for Me

Since I have all boys, I have had a hard time giving myself permission to have anything too feminine or girly in my house. It always made me a little sad when I would see a cute new fabric line come out and I felt that I needed to look the other way. Finally, about a year ago, I decided to stop being ridiculous and just make a few girly things for me. After all, just because I have all boys, does not mean that I need to be one too. I pieced this quilt a year ago, just simple squares, nothing fancy. I finally got around to quilting and binding it. This was my first experience with straight line quilting on my machine and I am really happy with how it turned out.

I included this picture of the quilt because you can see the quilting quite a bit better. I still have a lot to learn, but I am really encouraged by how this worked out. This quilt is now in my family room and it makes me happy every time I look at it. It also makes me wonder why I didn't allow myself to do something like this sooner.

San Diego

We took a trip to San Diego over our Spring Break. Here are a few pictures of what we did while we were there.

We stayed over the first night in Mesa. We visited some of our old haunts and took the kids to see the Mesa Temple.

The whole family at the Dolphin Show at Sea World.

Dallin and Drake waiting for the Shamu show to start.

Drakers

Thomas at Shamu Stadium

Thomas, Dallin, and Jack on the Tram at the Safari Park.

Drake being his normal cute self. He was really good on this trip considering that he only got catnaps in the stroller or car.

The boys watching the elephants at the Safari Park.

More Safari Park.

Best Buds!

Petting Zoo at the Safari Park.

Thomas and Jack at the Petting Zoo.

Safari Park

Another day at Sea World. Watching the whales.

Holding sea stars at Sea World. You can clearly see how Thomas felt about this particular activity.

Of course, we had to stop and admire the beautiful San Diego Temple.

Torrey Pines Beach. It was really cold this particular day, but the boys had a ball anyway.

Dallin and Thomas.

The boys also had a great time swimming at the hotel pool every day. I was always so exhausted after a long day that I would go up to the hotel room with Drake and rest. Jeremy was the hero who took the boys swimming. However, we didn't get any pictures of them in the pool, which is a shame because they loved it!!

The boys still talk about this trip every day and ask if we are going to go back someday. That makes it all worth it.

Birthdays!

We have had a couple of birthdays in our family this month! First, Jack turned three. He had a fun day and got some great presents including a Diego helicopter (from Grandma Teichert) that he and Thomas spend most of their time fighting over now. Whenever we ask him how old he is now, he says "twenty." Jack is our one man wrecking crew in the house, and I swear if he was my only child, I could not keep up with him and his destruction and messes. But we love him tons because he is also a sweet, happy, fun boy that makes us laugh every day. Happy Birthday Jack Jack! We are so glad you came to our family three years ago.

Thomas turned five just a few days after Jack's birthday. He also had a fun birthday, including his favorite pizza for dinner, a rocket cake, and some great presents including his favorite Spongebob Racing Game for the Wii (also from Grandma Teichert - that grandma, she gives some good gifts!!)

Thomas is smart, easy-going, and sweet. He loves life and it is so fun to listen to his commentary about his friends, family and experiences. He makes all our lives better and happier and we are so blessed to have him in our family! Happy Birthday Tom Tom!

Sorry about my lack of posting lately. Our camera is on its last legs, I'm afraid, and it is hard to get it to work or give us a decent picture of anything. We are saving for a Digital SLR, and I just hope this one lasts until we can afford one. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Drake is 1!

I'm a little slow in getting this posted, but our little Drake recently turned one. I can't believe how fast that year went. He has been such a cute and fun baby since the day he was born. It has been so fun seeing him begin to grow up this past year. He is always smiling and he laughs easily (especially at his big brothers.) He is walking now and says a couple of words like "mama" and "no no". We enjoy him so much and we are so grateful that our family is blessed with our little Drakers.

Some Fall Pics

We are still here. We're just enjoying the nice fall weather and scenery. Here are a few pics from our recent adventures.

We hope you are all enjoying your Fall season as much as we are ours!

Champion of the Book Fair

The other night Dallin talked us into going on a family outing to the school book fair. We went and bought each of the boys a book of their choice and as we were leaving the lady at the front desk told Dallin to put his name in a box for a drawing worth $25 worth of books. I didn't think much about it but helped him write his name and his teacher down on his ticket and we left for home. At about 9:00 we got a call from the library and they said "Dallin is one of the two winners of our $25 dollar book drawing. He was quite exited about it, but it was time for bed and so we said our prayers and put the boys down. Tonia and I were listening to thier conversation while they were winding down and Dallin said "Thomas I'm the champion of the book fair!!!" He was quite enthusiastic about the whole thing and really felt he was on top of the world. This is one of the reasons we love Dallin and his personality.

Random Pics

A few summer pictures that I never got around to blogging about. So, here they are in a nutshell.

Thomas learned to ride his bike without training wheels. Now, the child has a helmet, he just is not good about wearing it. At Dallin's Kindergarten doctors appointment, the doctor asked him if he could ride a bike without training wheels. Dallin answered "yes" with a tone that sounded like "what a ridiculous question." She then asked if he wore a helmet. He paused for a second and then said "Well, I have a helmet." What can I say? My boys are danger loving, thrill-seekers with no regard for their own safety.

Thomas also learned to pump himself on the swing. HOORAY!!!! He loves it and spends alot of time every day on the swing set.

The boys waiting for the Sweet Corn Festival Parade to start. As you can see, they came prepared with bags for their candy, and it was a good thing because they made BANK!! There are advantages to having "Mr. Hatch" as your dad when it comes to these small town parades.

Drake, waiting for the parade to start. Not quite as excited as the others.

The cement truck at our house, pouring our new patio. This was exciting for everyone - but for vastly different reasons.

The boys amongst the sunflowers. There were millions this year. So cute to look at - horrid for the allergies.

Dallin at the campfire on our family camping trip.

Drake at the family camping trip. Filthy! But, it is not as bad as you think. He was eating an Oreo.



We had a fun summer and we hate to see it end, but we also look forward to the pretty autumn colors and that lovely crispness in the air during the Fall.