Grandma Hatch

Fern Lorea McGarry Hatch
November 6, 1915 - April 20, 2009
My grandma passed away early this morning. So many memories have been flooding my mind for the last few days, as I knew she wasn't doing very well. These picture were taken when we visited her last summer.

When I was about 10 years old, I went for a walk with my grandpa and we saw a man hole cover on the road with the year 1915 on it. He said, "that is the year I was born." Ever since then I could remember how old he and my grandma were (they were born the same year) - that is better than my remembering my own children's birth years!

Growing up we lived about 3 hours from my grandparents, in New York. We visited throughout the year. My grandma was a wonderful cook. I looked forward to her canned ham and potato casserole - we each hoped we would be picked to turn the key to open the ham. I loved her Parker House rolls and her pie crusts are the only ones I liked. Thanksgiving always brought name cards for your place and "slush" for an appetizer (I have never been able to make slush like grandma). I remember the smell of her house, having store bought cereal for breakfast (we didn't get store bought cereal very often when I was younger), the tin of old fashion filled candies on the top of her refrigerator, Velveeta Cheese, chicken noodle soup, and popcorn balls.
Grandma was soft spoken and would have us speak softly to her. I remember her helping my little brothers and sisters with their letter sounds and speech (she probably did it for me too) - coming down to their level so they could watch her form the sounds and then copy. I found myself using her same techniques with my children.
Her lullaby of "bye-o, bye-o" to the tune of the hymn "Lord, We Ask Thee Ere We Part," calmed and put to sleep her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. I have a hard time not sing "bye-o" in my head whenever the hymn is song in church.
A couple of times, she and grandpa came watch us when my mom went with my dad on a business trip. She made us do our homework, but we got to watch TV.
A little while after my family moved to Missouri, my grandparent moved there as well, about 45 minutes from my parents house. I was in college by then and later married and living in different places, but I always thought of and looked forward to the time I would visit home and could spend some time with my grandparents while I was there.
Whenever you left after a visit, my grandpa and grandma - then after my grandpa died, just my grandma, would stand by the front door and wave goodbye until you were out of sight.
I could write a novel about her, she was such a wonderful, beautiful lady. This short bit of memories will have to do.

I'm grateful for the life she lead, for the daughter she raised to be my mother, and for the influence she has had on me and so many people. I'm grateful for my testimony of the sealing power of the temple and eternal families. She is back with her sweetheart whom she has missed for 3 1/2 years. And I know, that while we sorrow here and will miss her presence, that there were shouts of joy and greetings for her on the other side.

Easter

The day before Easter we went to our friend's house for an Easter Egg Hunt. Dana and her daughter do a fabulous job (and I don't have to think about it). The kids love going.

Last year Logan had his own little spot where only he could look (he is the youngest egg hunter). This year he joined in with the others and really got the hang of it.

At the end there were prizes for the most and second most eggs found. Alyssa got second. Natalie said she could have gotten more but her basket was too small and she should have used a bag. Last year they really wanted their baskets, instead of bags, but now we know which one is the better egg collector when a prize is on the line!
We had a fun time - and it was a perfect day for it. Sunday morning, the kids looked for their baskets hidden in the house.
I let Logan sleep in, so he found his basket later. Still just as happy about finding it - and I was happy he slept in!

Along with goodies and a book from the Easter Bunny, we love focusing on the real reason we have Easter (the goodies are just an extra).

I know that Christ came to earth, suffered and died for me and each one of us. His perfect love for me gives me the opportunity to repent, be resurrected and be with Him again. The atonement brings me hope and peace and the knowledge that He KNOWS my pains and struggles and is there to guide me and teach me and forgive.
The weekend before Easter was the General Conference for my church and we got to hear the inspired words of living apostles and prophets who speak God's will today. I love it when Conference is on Easter, but the week before is a great way to get ready for Easter Day.
The link below is for a wonderful Easter message about the Savior by Elder Jeffery R. Holland.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpFhS0dAduc

p.s. Sorry this is a little late in posting and I didn't get the actual video of Elder Holland's talk, ON the blog, like I wanted to (I tried but needed a bit more computer savviness than I have). But I hope you all had a happy Easter last week.

Hiking Stone Mountain

The closest mountain we have to us (although those of you who enjoy a grander, more mountainous view might not agree with the use of that term) is Stone Mountain. It is actually one of the largest exposed granite domes. It's pretty cool.
Over spring break we went to hike Stone Mountain. We went last summer (see 6/22/08 post), but only to the laser show they have there in the evening.

So, last Thursday, we parked at the trail entrance and began our ascent.
The kids had a lot of fun, especially Logan - jumping from rock to rock.

It was cool to overlook the beautiful trees in the surrounding area. We could even see Atlanta.
Logan made it just over half way up, then took to my shoulders for the rest of the climb - sure that was the steepest part, with a "use the hand rail", even, at one part.

But we made it to the top!!

We had decided to take the Summit Skyride down and then walk, around on the trails, back to the car and have a late lunch.
Some of kids (guess which ones) were a bit nervous when we got into the cable car.

The drop over the edge of the rock was cool . . .

. . . for some.

There is a huge carving on Stone Mountain of three figures of the Confederate States of America: Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and Jefferson Davis. It was amazing to see it so close - out the window of the cable car.When we reached the bottom and got out Natalie said, "my legs are still shaking!" She and Jake were grateful to be down.

They have a little village area with shops and other activities you can do. The kids loved going into the candy store . . . . . . and watching the train go by.

Tired and hungry we started back to the car - you can see that the kids would rather have taken the train. The Summit Skyride took us to the front of the mountain - the trail head, and our car, were at the far side of the mountain - just over a mile back.It was a perfect day and although Stone Mountain was very crowded, most chose the activities in the village area and were not on the hiking trails, so we didn't pass by many people. It was beautiful and quiet (except for some murmuring that come from young mouths - "how much further?"). Hiking up the mountain there were more people, but the large hiking area (path) didn't make it feel crowded - they even have a dashed yellow line to divide up and down traffic.
Despite the faces in the above picture, we all had a fabulous time. Although I'm still surprised that Logan and Jake didn't sleep all the way home - a bit too invigorating, perhaps.

Utterly Deadly!

This post has trumped Easter and Stone Mountain (I'll be doing some catch up in the next couple of days). I had to post this immediately because of how amazing my pie turned out (even 5 min. over baked - I'll fix that next time).I attempted my first pecan pie. The recipe I tried was "Utterly Deadly Southern Pecan Pie."

It was AMAZING!! I could have eaten myself sick and then eaten some more! I was good and only had one piece - 1/12 size, that's all you need.
I'm sure part of the key, as well, was having pecans that taste like candy!
There is a nut store southwest of here that has fabulous pecans!
A few months ago we planted our first pecan tree. I'm hoping, in a few years, we can have our own candy tree.
For those of you who want to have your own taste:

- Utterly Deadly Southern Pecan Pie -
1 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. corn syrup (use 3/4 c. light and 3/4 c. dark)
4 eggs
1/4 c. butter, softened
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 c. pecans, coarsely broken (I think it could use up to another cup)
1 unbaked 9" pie crust

1. In saucepan boil sugar and corn syrup together for 2 to 3 minutes; set aside to cool slightly.

2. In large bowl beat eggs lightly and very slowly pour the syrup mixture into the eggs, stirring constantly.
3. At this point you can strain the mixture, into another bowl, to make sure it's smooth and lump free.
4. Stir in butter, vanilla, and pecans and pour into crust.
5.Bake in a 350°F oven for about 45 to 60 minutes or until set.

The secret to this rich pie is cooking the sugar and corn syrup first. It is definitely not diet food! Enjoy!

Wii RAN!

We (the children and I) have been wanting a Wii for a while now. Robert finally made a deal. The kids, and I, were to do a certain number of laps around the house (or equivalent miles in the neighborhood) - 11 laps is one mile. Jake - 165 laps, Natalie - 275 laps, Alyssa - 330 laps, and me - 440 laps.
To help encourage the kids, each time they finished 100 laps they got to pick breakfast for the next morning. When they finished they got to choose either breakfast OR dinner. When I finished 100 laps, and when I finished, I didn't have to make breakfast the next morning.
We made a chart to keep track. We called it the "Wii Run."
(we also started this about a month before soccer started for the kids - our ulterior motive . . . condition them for soccer)

Robert was sell bench(es) in order to pay for the Wii.

Last week all the laps were finished!
A grand combined total of 1210 laps (110 miles)!

The Wii was ordered and arrived!!

Mii-s were created and the games began.
We have had a blast!

Robert has yet to take down his children in boxing. Alyssa knocked him out in round 1 - the first time they played.

Jake was already trash talking his dad when he played him - "the old man is dying! the old man is dying!"

I love seeing the kids playing together and encouraging each other. Robert takes time when he is home or even when he has a few minutes before heading out, to "take someone on." I need to seriously work on my bowling technique (I have to granny bowl to make it go straight!)

The ulterior motive was successful as the girls did much better going into soccer this season than in seasons past. Alyssa's coach mentioned one practice that she wasn't winded when everyone else was huffing and puffing. Alyssa has come to love running so much that she entered a 5K (see post 3/22/09). And during Natalie's first game I saw three other players holding their sides and Natalie didn't (she had been cramping up on our speed walks through the neighborhood - a good 2 mile, hilly loop).

There will be a continued requirement of "laps per week" in order to play the Wii the next week - everyone got those in today when we went to Stone Mountain (to be posted later).

Kindergarten Concert & Curriculum Night

Last night the elementary school had their curriculum night for the families. Each grade prepared activities that go along with the curriculum they have been learning.
In Kindergarten they have been studying plants. As part of their activities, the kindergartners learned a bunch of "plant" songs and had a "concert on the lawn" - it was raining, so they moved it to the gym. The kids did a GREAT job. The boys were all dressed in green or brown shirts, as one of the songs that just the boys sang was about weeds. The girls had colored shirts on and sang a song, just girls, about flowers in bloom. The closest thing we had was a mustard color shirt - we called it a "brown" mustard colored shirt. I guess he was a dandelion.

Jake is on the top row about 6 boys in from the end - it is hard to see him most of the time (we were sitting on the wrong side for pictures/video). Look for the yellow shirt.

At the very end of the song they all yelled "YEEHAW" - I stopped the camera too soon and missed that part.
We met some other friends there - here is Natalie and Lily, whose brother is also in kindergarten.

And Logan had fun dancing to the music.

After enjoying a pizza for dinner, in the cafeteria, we headed to the 3rd grade hall to see what they had in their rooms. One had all sorts of magnets and things you can do with them. The kids loved trying everything out. Magnets was one of my favorite subjects when I was teaching Physics. It's hard to not play with them.

Another room had bugs in it. After getting over the initial "ick" factor (I think Logan needed to realize they were NOT moving), Logan loved looking at each one. He would sometimes even do a double magnifying glass - one on each eye! He didn't want to leave that room.

The room the girls had been waiting for was the one where they could paint pet rocks. We had crossed paths with Natalie's friend, Savannah, throughout the evening and here they were able to sit together and paint their rocks.

Since they had to dry, each pet rock was left on a piece of paper with your name and teacher's name on. Alyssa was upset that she might not be able to paint a rock - seeing as she was no longer in elementary school, but the teacher said it was ok and she could just have it go to Natalie's teacher once it was dry.The whole evening, Alyssa commented on how small the gym was, compared to the middle school, and how low down the chairs at the cafeteria tables were. It was funny. The elementary school did, however, have WAY BETTER book fair than at the middle school!
We didn't get to the "Are You Smarter Than a 2nd Grader" or some of the other activities, but we had a great evening.

Drought Relief

Last weekend it rained . . . and rained . . . and rained. It started Thursday and ended Saturday night, for a total of over 3 inches.

When we moved here almost two years ago it was going on 10 years of drought. Water restrictions were put in place within a year and the next spring when we put in most of our grass, I had to get a special watering permit for new landscaping (this included taking a test, mostly on water conservation). So far this year, we are to near normal - helping a lot with the drought conditions here, but we'll have to wait to see what happens come summer.
Anyway, when the big snow, we had last month (see post 3/2/09 In Like A Lion), melted and that coming after a lot of rain, I thought the river was pretty high. We had never had our river flood over since we had been here - until then. This past Sunday we took a walk to look at the river - it was higher than ever!

I took the picture of the river standing on our path, by the sand pit (for those who have been here) - which was filled with water. The first line of grass and trees is the riverbank, water covering our path from where I'm standing. The second line of trees is our island, almost completely covered end to end. And the other side of the river beyond.
After looking at the river we decided to walk to the neighborhood park. The sun was finally peeking out and made for a beautiful picture. This isn't our house, but the house is up for sale if you want to move into our neighborhood. :)

All the trees you see below are normally ABOVE water and the whole underwater area is known as Skipstone Park. All the children threw stick after stick into the water, Logan especially loved it which kept me nervous the whole time. Robert, in the picture, had just thrown a stick (a thick one) and hit the tree - his intended target. Natalie didn't believe that he had hit it, she must have missed the whack it made when it hit. They had lots of fun and then we headed home.

The water has begun to receed. We've had some sun and now some rain again today and continuing tomorrow. I love the freshness of a wet Spring.
Unfortunately, Logan LOVES (an understatement) being outside and rainy days and the wet days after the rain stops are hard for him. He usually goes through many outfits (mostly pants) when I let him out. Today I made him a fort and we've been reading books to keep him from thinking about going outside - so far it's working. :)