Hatches are relocating!!

For those of you who don't know, Jef and I are packing up (actually, we already are packed up) and moving across town this week. We found a little bigger place with a fenced yard and (count them!!) TWO real bathtubs, so we took it. I'm still not completely sure about this whole thing, but Jef is, so I'm going with him on this one. For those of you in town, I'm sure your help will be called in, and for those of you out of town, you can be glad you escaped one more service project! I don't know what our new address is, but it's across from the back of Fred Meyer. I'm sure that will be enough for mail or anything else to reach us! At least now I can do my grocery shopping on foot, maybe with a little red wagon in tow. Love you all - hope everyone is doing well. See you all in seven weeks... Hol

Memorial Day Weekend Festivities

Wow, Memorial Day weekend is over, and I need a three day weekend to recover from the weekend. Holly, Alana, Rebekah and I went with some friends of ours to Nook bar, from Thursday night to Monday afternoon, and camped and played and had lots of fun. Our friends the Clarkes and Hillers with their 4 kids each, staked out (no pun intended) a great spot down a little road at Nook Bar on the Chetco River. Actually Heather Hiller went up Thursday morning and got some tents set up and then the rest of us came up that evening to camp. We borrowed a tent from the Clarkes that was big enough for all of us including enough room for a port-a-crib for Rebekah. It was a lot of fun.

We went down on Saturday for the Azalea Festival parade and all of the kids got a haul of candy. Alan Clarke and I went exploring on Saturday and across the river found a great waterfall. It went way up and turned right and then kept on going up. The water was cold enough that it made the Chetco seem warm when I got back in it. I took a bunch of pictures of the different areas of the falls...here is one of them.

It isn't the most beautiful of the spots but I don't want to ruin my images by shrinking them to fit on the web. If you want to see more you can go to http://www.hatchphoto.smugmug.com/holidays and then click on Memorial Day weekend. The password is "nook" without the parathensis of course. At that site you can see them larger size and I don't have to sacrifice quality for you to be able to see them.

After going up with Alan, Holly and I went back up Monday afternoon before we came home. Actually, all of the couples went up for a little bit to show spouses the beauty of it before we came home. When Holly and I went, I took my camera and I stayed up for a while when Holly went back down and got all of the images. Then I set aside the camera and went exploring even higher up the waterfall. I never got to the top of the fall...I just decided that I had gone far enough and it was time to turn around. There were a number of pools that were 4 feet deep and while I'm sure the water levels will fall as the summer progresses, it was perfect when I was up there.

On another note, Doris has asked that I provide a "how-to" on blogging or at least a "how-to" on responding to blogs...I will be doing that and emailing it out to everyone.

Hope this finds everyone happy. And having had just as great a weekend as we did.

Back from Mexico... still not tan.

Okay everyone... I made it back. As you probably already know, I have the world's most amazing husband. (As to how he rates as a brother or brother-in-law, I'll let you post your own!)

Jeremy sent me on a super-long vacation to Mexico, alone.... bless him. I was desperate for a break, and he wanted me to go somewhere where I would enjoy myself and not worry about who was taking care of the kids. So I bought my 30 books, packed a few swimsuits, and drove to S.F. for my flight to Cancun. The drive was wonderful, the hotel was great, and while I was in the Bay Area, I got to see my mom's dad who just moved out of the house my mom grew up in, into a ritzy assisted living place (where the old ladies call him 'the kid' because he's only 85, and are constantly hitting on him). It was great. So, I flew out, and stayed the first 6 days near a town called Tulum. I had a wonderful bungalow, and it is an ec0-friendly resort, which means they build around most native plant and animal life, have solar and wind power, and it is also a sea turtle preserve. All the sea turtles come up on the beach to lay their eggs, and they protect the turtles and the eggs from tourists, and protect the beach from any over-development that would interfere with the turtles coming back to lay their eggs.

Those of you who know me well, or even a little, I guess, since this is the first thing people usually learn about me: I am (somewhat) a picky eater. You won't believe this, but when I was there, I ate all kinds of foods I NEVER eat. Wheat bread toast with marmalade for breakfast, fruit salad with mango, banana, watermelon, yogurt and granola for lunch, and I had fish for dinner, twice! Chicken and pan-fried vegetables like zucchini, cucumbers, peppers, capers with wild rice and corn... seriously. I have found it is a lot easier to introduce weird foods into your diet when a guy in a suit is bringing them to you on a fancy plate, and you don't have to do the dishes. (Think I could talk SuperHusband into that, too?)

Anyway, it was great. I saw the ruins at the only remaining mayan seaport civilization. Saw lots of huge iguanas, took pictures for the kids. Then I stayed my last in the Hotel Zone in Cancun. Fancy resort, with beach service, and peacocks roaming the pool area. I guess they are supposed to make it seem fancier or something. But if you haven't ever heard a peacock's "mournful cry," you aren't missing much. I kept thinking someone deserted a small and cranky child poolside. The ocean was everything you hope it will be, and the people were very friendly.

I went to church in Tulum on Sunday, and it was so different, but totally the same somehow. I wasn't sure I was even on the right street, until I saw all those white shirts and ties! I tried to sing the hymns in Spanish, but they were hampered musically - they had no piano or organ, so the chorister(?) had to hum the melody for the introduction and then sing really loud. On one of the songs, when she didn't sing loud enough, after the first chorus, the entire congregation just kept singing the chorus melody, over and over again, through all four verses... it was sad, but great. They were very nice and so enthusiastic! The young men were presenting a program, I didn't catch most of it, but every now and then I would hear familiar things jump out like, "Mo-says" "Ah-rone", etc. Even if I could speak spanish, they talk so fast! I never recognize the few words I know in the 800 per second they throw at you. But quite a few people in the resort towns spoke English (though no reason why they should, I expect people who come to the U.S. to speak english, so I was prepared for them to expect me to know spanish, but they don't seem to care).

This is getting long, but let me just say that it was great. I came home, and the house was spotless, no one had died, and jeremy had even shampooed the carpets! I think he makes a better stay-at-home than me. But I got really homesick the last 2 days, and I was SO glad to be home. I read 28 books, took naps almost everyday, and really de-stressed, so I'm very glad I went, but I don't think I can be away from the fam that long again. I missed everybody so much!

For our family vacation (you know, the one where the whole family actually gets to go?), we are thinking of renting a houseboat or the like on Lake Shasta or somewheres. Don't know when or where or (most importantly) how much, but it sounds like a fun getaway. Maybe if we do, most of y'all could drop in for a visit. We can't wait until the reunion, and hope everyone is doing great.

Holly Joining In...

Jef is dragging me into the new world by my heels...I just looked at some of the old posts some of you have left and wished I'd seen them a year ago. Anyway, now that I'm connected at home, I'll try to do better keeping in touch with those of you who don't live around the corner.

Let's see...today started out with Alana tearing the skin off of both her knees. We got them patched up and Jamie called to invite us on a walk to the park, and I thought that would be a brilliant diversion. We got almost to Jamie's house and she started running, then face planted into the pavement and tore a big hole in her mouth. It was bleeding pretty good, so I called one of the dentists in our ward to see if he could take a quick look at it and tell me if she needed stitches or anything. Turns out there wasn't much he could do, but it sure is good to have people to call on. He even called the house tonight to check up on her. She'll have a fat lip for a while, and he told me that her tooth might turn black, but at least she's alive...

What else? We are anxiously waiting for Heidi's wedding. A second dress fitting is scheduled for whenever she can get to Brookings. At least she was talked out of her suit-of-armor plan. We are still waiting for word on the pith helmet bridal veil...

Hope all of you are doing well. Doris, I look forward to keeping in better touch with you as you appear to the be the only other one with regular posts. The rest of you, get on the ball! I can preach at you now because I've written a whole couple of sentences. Later~ Hol

Gas Prices

I don't know that this post will be strictly about gas prices, but I thought that it would be a great title...seeing as how gas prices are so high. How does it affect you? Do high gas prices make you drive less? Or do you do as I heard one lady on the radio does, and not look at the prices...you just go and buy gas when you need it without concern for the price.

I know that Holly drives less, while I really can't...when I have to go to a photo shoot, I have gear that has to be transported and I have to look at least presentable if not regal :-) upon my arrival. A lot of my business is about presentation, actually...all of my business is about presentation...and I can't afford to not look "good."

I don't know what that really has to do with gas prices, but I think that the price setters really know what we think we need, and when we need it, and they set prices accordingly. I predict that prices will go down as soon as Memorial Day weekend is over. And of course they will cite a ramp up of crude production as the reason, but the garbage that they spew is all that we have to base our knowledge on and if the producers want to be less than truthful, who are we to know any different...ahhh...this post went a little political....shouldn't have.

Plans for Memorial Day weekend??? Holly, the kids and I are going camping with our friends the Hillers and the Clarkes. I am doing family portraits for the Hillers in return for them buying the food and camp spot at Nook for the weekend. It will be a great trade for both families...they really can't afford portraits, and I can't afford to go camping...so anyway...post your family plans, or simply respond to this post.

Ich fliege nach Deutschland!

As you all know, I am soon going to Germany for an extended stay. I'm quite sure I don't know what I'm getting myself into, and that's why I'm going. I thought I would let you all know a little bit about the family I will be staying with. Here is the letter they emailed me before we made the agreement for me to come out, complete so-cute errors of which I know I will be making many in German:


Dear Aupair,

Thank you very much for your application which we have received from the Almondbury Aupair Agency. Please let me introduce ourselves to you have an idea of who we are and if you would like to become a part of our family.

We are a German family of four living in the German city Düsseldorf close to the river Rhine.

My husband Arno is a Director of an industrial company and due to his job he has to travel a lot. We have a daugher called Laura
who is 9 years old and her brother Karl who is 6 years old. Both children attend an English school in the neighbour-hood and they both speak fluent English.








At home we do speak German. But wouldn’t mind to have a girl with us who does not speak German as we are all able to communicate in English very well. We would like to find a native English speaker who will speak English with the children and will be able to help them with their homework after school. We are doing this with our current Au-Pair and it works very well. She is very nice and of course she will talk to you on the phone if you like, to give you more detailed information about us from her point of view.



Last but not least there is me. My name is Silke,

I’m the mother and I run my own consulting business and I’m more or less able to set down my working hours as I wish.

Not to forget our two dogs. There is Bautz who is a Labrador and Fritz who is a Jack Russell. They are very nice dogs and love to go for a walk.

We live in the countryside on the outskirts of the city centre, which is only about 20 minutes by tram. The public transport to our house is very practical. We live in a big old house that is built in the style of an old English stately home and now has been turned into flats. We have a 6 bedroom flat and our Au-Pair has her own room and bathroom. The room is fully equipped with all necessary features. We have had Au-Pairs before and are used to involving them in daily family life.
Our nature is open-minded and we are a lively and happy – sometimes a bit loud – family. We also love to have dinner with friends etc.

We are looking for a girl who wants to go to school in the morning and starts with her duties at about lunchtime, after her own language school. There may also be an opportunity to spend time helping at our children’s school if perhaps you are interested in a career in teaching.

An ordinary day in our family looks as follows:
First you need to go out with the dogs for a little walk. You will have some household tasks (not cleaning, just general tidying up) and helping with the family’s ironing (we do give the shirts and bedding away to a service).
We have a housekeeper who comes twice a week and she takes care or the “bigger” things. Normally you have to work from Monday to Friday and the weekend is off. Sometimes we ask for babysitting at the weekend.

When the children come home (4o’clock in the afternoon) you need to help them with their homework and afterwards they play. Once a week Laura is doing horse riding (if possible she tries to go more often) and Karl wants to start in a football club after this summer.

We are looking for a girl who loves family life and animals. She should be creative and responsible in working with the children. Our family is happy and nice and we made a lot of friendships with our former Au-Pairs. They still visit us a lot.

The payment terms need to be negotiated and depend on the “aupair+” system of the agency. It is generally higher than the asked recommendation.

We are looking forward to hearing from you

Best regards
Silke Alberty + Family

Now you know almost as much about them as I do. I have spoken with Silke on the phone and she is very charming. I have also spoken with their current au pair, Emma, who said that Silke is an excellent cook, so perhaps I can pick up a thing or two from her. I am getting ready to buy my ticket! Wish me luck.

A Jef, Holly, Alana, Rebekah family update.

Here is an update for the Hatch family. I realize that it has only been a week since I published last and this might be a surprise for some people, but being on a dedicated schedule has sure helped me to remember the things I want to do and the goals I set to work on. One of the goals I have is to keep a regular journal and I do that on my own personal blog, and I figure that since I'm the administrator for both my own blog and this one, I should at least put a weekly update in here.

Rebekah has a tooth...just one, and has gone straight from laying down to walking without going through a crawling stage. I remember reading somewhere that going from nothing to walking can be a detriment later in life, but I can't find the reference anywhere. It may just be an "old-wives tale," but I'm not sure. (no offense intended to those "old" wives out there)

Alana is able to recognize her ABC's when she sees them on signs and what not...I realize that every parent says this, but "my kid is super smart." She is typically concerned with making sure her sister follows the rules and is taken care of. Sometimes when Rebekah takes her cookie, Alana will let loose with the "older sister wrath." But in general she is a great big sister.

Holly just had her master class with Alexander Tutunov this last Saturday, she had a great time, and learned a lot. You'll need to ask her for more details than what you get here just because my memory isn't that great and if I'm not focused I tend to not listen very well.

Anyway...I've lost a couple of pounds from working out and sure hope to be in super shape come time for Heidi's wedding, and the Marks Family reunion. It sure would be nice to have a regular Hatch family reunion, I'll have to work on that sometime in the future.

Well, till next week then, love you all.

If you're reading this

You are one of the few...it sure would be nice to know that you are reading by having you leave a comment, or even making a post of your own...just something to think about.

Our "walk" turned "hike"

Wow...well, It's been a long time since there has been a post here, but I thought that even if no one reads these at least there should be something here. I am going to try and post weekly and I hope that others will join me in trying to keep the family updated on their lives.

This past sunday, we went for what was supposed to be a nature "walk" with a lunch and gospel lesson at the end. On the way to what turned into a "hike" rather than a simple walk, we were discussing what made for acceptable Sunday activities. And we both thought that as we tried things we thought were appropriate we would make final decisions. Well, it was decided that for our family we would take flat land walks, but not up and down hikes at least for Sunday activities. I've posted a couple of pictures for everyones enjoyment. Love, from Jef, Holly, Alana and Rebekah.

Our Hatch Family update

Well, we've had an eventful month, and just wanted to share some of our goings on with the family, or at least with Doris...as she is the only person who I know of that reads this for sure. We made a family trip to Fresno, my mom was flying down to Sacramento and then driving with my brother to Fresno to spend time with her "california" grandkids, so we suprised her by driving down and waiting until she got there and then knocking on the door and asking if they had room for one more. She was certainly suprised upon seeing us and we had a great time with all the grandkids in one place for the first time since Rebekah was born and John's new baby Jeremy Landon was born. We did family pictures for everyone and one group shot of everybody. And of course did a photo session of Grandma with all her grandkids. We left in the evening and Holly drove all the way down, and of course all the way back home too, and so when we got there and when we got home it took some sleep time to make up for all the sleep she missed while driving. The trip down took 12 hours and the trip home took 10, that is the difference between taking I5 to Grants Pass and taking 101 down to Willets and then over.

Right now, Holly is in Monmouth with my mom, taking care of her after shoulder surgery. Holly was supposed to be home saturday last week, but with complications from surgery, my mom didn't get out of the hospital until this last sunday and Holly decided to stay an extra week and help mom recuperate. The drug they used to paralyze my mom's shoulder caused her diaphram to paralyze as well, allowing the lung on that side to fill with fluid and collapsing her lung. When they took her off of oxygen, her stats plumetted and she needed oxygen, anyway...they did tests and finally got her stable enough to go home, and now she is recovering.

Thanks to everyone who prayed for her speedy recovery, I'm sure she appreciates it and I definetely do.

Well, I look forward to Holly being home and seeing my kids, it's been difficult to have them gone so long, and it will be fun to have them home.

TaTa for now...

Mom and Omi

Here's Mom and Omi when we were in Hameln last year. We had a good time with her, despite her being so particular about how she likes things. I was very excited that Sigi and Geerd came down to see us. They were very friendly and gracious. I hope to spend some time with them during the trip that I hope to be taking to Germany.



Here are Sigi and Geerd. Every picture I took of her she had her eyes closed.


The highlight of my trip into the town was a picture with the Pied Peiper of Hameln. I assumed he was a native Hamelinian until Dad told me later that he was an American. Does anyone else find that funny? Does anyone else find it questionable that he was walking around carrying a piece of mistletoe?

Some Fall Colors in Vienna

This is on a mountainside in a little town called Halstaat, in Austria. It is literally built on a mountainside that runs right into the lake on the left. We took a train thing up the really steep side of the mountain. You can see the track on the bottom in the center.






Then walked the rest of the way through scenery like this. It was gorgeous. I'll just take the liberty to post a few more of my favorite secenery pictures.





The pathway leads to this tiny little village, if you can really call it that. It's a business that has built up around this ancient salt mine. We got to go down inside it . . .


Wearing these awesome jumpsuits. We had to wear them, because they have these giant wooden slides that you get to slide down, but since they're old and wooden, and there could be splinters . . . yeah. It was good to have some protection.

Not much... but I'm here!

I wanted to show that I/we are posting now, even though I don't have much to post. Thank you Doris and Jef for continuing to keep this thing on life support, and having faith that it's wayward prodigal children might one day return.

What new news... Jere is teaching the 8-10 yr old boys in Primary now, and I'm still loving YW. Jef took fabulous pictures of the YW for our modesty fashion show, and he was so great about it! Had a swell time. Thanks, Jef!

Abby fell off of her bunkbed the night before we left for Georgia - she was still hurting 10 days later, so we took her in for an x-ray. FRACTURED. Yes, I let my child go 10 days with a broken wrist. Anyone want to nominate me for Mother of the Year? In my defense, Renee had Russ Nickles look at it while we were gone, and he said it was probably fine. But still... She narrowly avoided a cast, and got to wear a splint for a week or two.

Ella is now riding her two-wheeler with NO training wheels. It took her half an hour to learn, and she's so proud.

Johnny has joined the Tiger Cub Scouts down at Scout Hall, and they roped Jeremy into being Den Leader for lack of other volunteers. They have their first meeting this week, so we'll see how it goes....

Liv is talking a little, but unless you know what she is trying to say, you don't get much of it. Still, give her time...

I'm super-duper, just waiting for whatever is coming next - who knows? Wish we could see you all again soon. Heather

Update

So, everyone, my big plans for travelling Europe continue. I know I told everyone I wanted to go to Germany for a year. I'm continuing to plan for that. I have a few resources I am calling on to help me find a job there. Keep your fingers crossed for me. My ambitious year has now turned into more like six months, which is fine. I think that's all I'll be able to afford, and I think I'll be ready to come back to the States after that anyway. :)

I got a great internship up in Salt Lake, at the Church Office Building, editing oral histories in the Church Archives. It's already been a great experience, sometimes quite humbling, but that's a good thing. It pays really well, and I am extremely grateful for it.

I just but my plane ticket home for Christmas. I'll be flying into Medford on December 23 . . . and will be staying indefinitely. Weird, and slightly terrifying. My life in Provo will officially end on December 23. I bought a one-way ticket back to Oregon. Hopefully I will be leaving early in January for Germany, but all of my plans are up in the air right now. So, there may be some juggling around of me while I am there, if that's okay with everyone. I must say, I am very excited to finally get some real time back in Brookings.

This is a final plea to keep in touch with the blog. I think it's a great opportunity for us to keep in touch. Have Jef show you how to post pictures and things, and if you can't post pictures, just type things!

I hope you're all doing just peachy keen. See you in December.

Doris

Ahh...the time does fly

Wow, well, I had a great post all written and then the explorer window locked up and I lost it all. Great!!

The general gist of things, Holly is the new ward organist and I have been called as the Gospel Doctrine teacher to replace Jeremy. I have great pictures up on the website...http://www.hatchphoto.smugmug.com you should all check them out.

I will try and make a cheat sheet for those whom internet and blogging is a new thing so that everyone can stay connected, or not but at least it will be everyones choice instead of not doing it because they don't know how.

Anyway, I will leave you with a Japanese proverb...

inu mo arukeba, bo ni ataru
sometimes even a dog will walk into a tree.

Love to all,
Jef

Last One for Today

I recently got to go to Mesa Verde in Colorado, a place (thanks to the #3 childcraft) that I've always wanted to go. It is the home of the ancient cliff dwellings and it was spectacular. This year is the centennial anniversary of the park and they opened two special hikes to the public. Tommy, Nicole (a friend of ours), and I bought tickets for one of them and it was well worth it. We got to hike on an original indian trail and use their footholds in the rocks. I took a million pictures, but after a while, they started to kind of look alike. Anyway, here are some of my favorites.

Dennis and Karianne

Dennis and Karianne have finally, officially warmed up to me. Yeah! Well, Dennis has liked me for quite a while, but Karianne doesn't care for strangers so much, so it's been kind of hard sometimes, but now she seems to have come full circle. I need to get over to Jak's and take advantage of it while I can. These pictures were taken at Patrick John's reception. Dennis and Karianne are fond of making funny faces and posing for pictures.

Some More Pictures

I have tons of pictures from various trips I have taken, and want to share some of them with you. I'll try to post new ones as often as possible, and I'll think of the funniest stories I can share with you so it's not so boring. :) I'm learning as I go, so if things seem a bit disorganized at first, it's probably because they are.

Marks Reunion

It was wonderful to see you all. I had such a good time. I wanted you to all have access to some of my pictures, so I'm posting them here. If any of you want copies, just let me know specifically what you want, and I'll send them to you via email. If any of you have superb pictures, by all means, post them too! I hope I get to come home again in August for a few days. If not, well then, you'll just have to wait your turn like the others.

L&R Marks Progeny

Hey everyone! I just thought I would let you all know (sorry it's a bit belatedly) that I decided to walk in August. I'm still not officially graduating until December, but since there's no ceremony in December, I'm going to walk in August. I apologize again to Mom for not saying something sooner. I really didn't think anyone would want to come, since I didn't care much about walking and decided to more as a whim than anything else. Still, if any of you have a whim to come (and believe me, I will not be in the least offended if nobody comes-it's an awfully long way to come to sit through a few hour long boring ceremony) the ceremonies are Thursday, August 17 and Friday August 18. If you want more details, you can contact me.

I am getting so excited to come home for the reunion next week. I'll see you all soon!