2017!!
2016 has been amazing. But 2017 is off to a very hard start. Venefi let go of 80 employees out of the 200 they had. The day after we had bought Adam a new commute car we were told that Adam wouldn't have a job anymore. That just sucked. Then a couple days after that, I heard that my brother got in a fight at a bar and the fight turned pretty bad. I called my brother right away and he told me that the cops were coming to get him within a few hours. He just knew it. A few hours later, I'm on the phone with him as he is pacing his apartment about as stressed as he could be when after about 10 minutes he announces that he's got to go. The police is there to arrest him as expected. That is not something a big sister wants to witness. Ever. Days go by and even a couple of weeks of stress both from Adam having tons of interviews and trying to sort my brother's stuff (apartment lease, furniture, debts, and other....crap...) out from clear over here to try to help my Mom lighten her load a little.
By the end of the month though, we know that my brother's court appearance on the 25th led to a 6 months therapy for addiction to alcohol and drugs with another court appearance on April 7th. And then, to no one's surprise, Adam has not 1 but 2 great job offers. He accepts Pluralsight's and starts at the very end of the month. We feel overly blessed as a huge weight is taken off our shoulders.
But you know what? Life is amazing guys! First, marriage has proven to be even better 10 years later. Spending every hour possible with my very best friend, keeping life 100 miles an hour or just kicking back together is already more blessings than I ever thought I would have. Then add to that an amazing 8 years old turning 16 that's becoming more and more independent each day. A boy that pushes limits and argues. A boy that picks at your mistakes but also picks you flowers and shiny things. An 8 years old capable of melting your heart by his obedience and his smile. The only thing better than having Josan as a son is to have him as a first child and then have Calvin to top it all off. He came in our lives after so much waiting. Before he even came to Earth he had already taught us to be more patient and to rely God way more than we did before. He looks so much like his big brother but has a completely different personality. He knows what he wants and is so feisty about it. He keeps us on our toes and keeps our hearts full. 2016 has proven that we may not have as much as some. But to us we have everything.
Anyways, enough babbling. January has been nuts. But we still had time to take a few pictures...
Snow can be a lot of fun...for a few minutes anyway...:)
We love Adam's Altima
We just can't stop taking pictures of this guy!
Josan doesn't let us take a lot of pictures of him anymore but once in a while he'll allow it. On this one he was just having a crazy fun time with Cal
The month was hard and stressful but we still made it a priority to play:)
Here's my brother in all his glory the day after the fight. I have a picture of the other guy too. But I can't put that on here. Let just say it's easy to see why he got arrested.
That's a much better sight. Melts my heart instead of breaking it.
Lunch date. Might as well since we're both home all day.
Look at that guy! I'm seriously the luckiest girl in the world. He works his butt off for his family, he's the best dad our boys could ever have, the most kind, selfless husband and he looks like...THAT!!! I definitely married up for sure!
We went to Johnny Rocket one night and I kid you not....there was the 30 years old version of Gage! It was even more obvious in person!
EIGHT MONTHS OLD ALREADY!!!! He is such a little adventurer! If he can get in it, he does it! He never just sits still for me. He's a little more calm for Adam I think. The good thing about that though is that he's always busy. He entertains himself pretty well. Especially compared to his big brother. At this point he eats anything we give him. So far the only thing he doesn't dig is green peas. Who can blame him? At 8 months old Cal mostly wears 9-12 months old clothes. He seems to always be just a little ahead of the clothe sizes. We just love our chunky boy!
He's so sweet when he's asleep!
And so wild when he's not...:)
Savanna turned 5 and we celebrated her birthday at Surf n' Swim. It was super fun!
Just having some fun!
That's my Mom's driveway. We've got NOTHING to complain about here...
Dinner at the Hatches! Such a fun time!
Adam's new boss gave him the option of starting a little bit later that he could have so he could enjoy some time with his family. Who does that these days?! So we decided to go to California just the 4 of us. It was actually way fun!
We've always wanted to go to Universal Studios so we made sure we would go this time.. It did not disappoint one bit
A flying car from Harry Potter
Donkey was pretty funny. And apparently pretty fascinating too...
Harry Potter land. It was mine and Adam's favorite for sure.
Honey Dukes
Frozen Butterbeer is a must. Guys this thing is SOOOOOOO good!!!!
Simpsons Land. Josan didn't care at all about this one. So he didn't want to be in the pictures either. Adam and I sure liked it!
Chief Wigum
Minion Land was cute too. We rode this little ride and got ourselves transformed into minions. Apparently Gru's machine was broken and it didn't work on us. Bummer!
Adam and I were dying to go in The Walking Dead attraction but we didn't want to go by ourselves and taking the boys was out of question. So we just skipped it this time. But we plan on going next time for sure.
Everybody loves Kung Fu Fighting!!!
SpongeBob called me a barnacle. But he seemed to like Josan though.
Buba Gump
We told Josan he could have one souvenir on our trip. He picked this wand from the Harry Potter Land. It's actually a replica of Harry's wand. Josan loved it so much he slept with it. Then forgot it in his bed the morning we came back home...that sure was a waste of $50!
One night Josan and Adam went to the hot tub. I didn't want to take Calvin down cause it was pretty chilly out. So him and I just hopped in the tub together!
We did go to the beach as well.
Just had to take a picture. I'm not sure if it's cause we just drove through it but Hollywood was pretty disappointing to me.
We went back to Universal before the end of our trip and just did our favorite stuff.
Cal was pretty good most of the time. But at some point we may have given him a chocolate licorice to keep him happy...
Back to Utah these 2 best frennemies were on good terms for a while.
At the end of the month this guy figured out how to really crawl. Here comes trouble!
Since Cal has been born I've really been trying to work out and eat well...ish. This is what Adam vs my meal looked like one night...
Josan in his little bed in our room.
This is called "dabbing". I'm not sure what it does really but I guess it's the cool thing 8 years old do
This girl....I could go all day on why I love her. I mean look at her! She's plain perfect. I cannot wait to see how she does in Chile! Happy birthday Taryn!!
