My latest trip to AZ this summer.. (Or better known as--a celebration of my Uncle Gary's life, and Lincoln's 1st Birthday.

I will forever be grateful that was able to attend my Uncle Gary's Funeral in Taylor, on the 6th of August a week or so ago. I was fortunate enough to be in AZ the Sunday before he passed away and to have the privelege of telling him how much he meant to me and my family and to tell him how much we would ALL miss him. He was the closest thing that my kids had to a "Grandad Hatch" and they all adored him (---even though their time with him was limited by the distance between Utah and AZ--I think they never felt like strangers to him and JoAnn.)

In Gary---they came to learn a great deal about their own Grandad whom they had never really known. (Amber remembers him vaguely---but Julia was under 3 when we lost him, in April of 1983. Matt and Rhett were not yet born (although I was pregnant with Matt at the time of my dad's death.) I like then, as now, to picture my two sons walking and talking with my dad before they ever came here.

The Funeral was probably the most fun and entertaining funeral I have ever been to in my life, and I have no doubt that Gary would have wanted it "just that way." I am sure he was there laughing and giggling (eyes glistening all the while) at all the stories and tall tales that were told about his life and enjoyed every minute of it.

It was, most definitely a "celebration" of his amazingly full, fun and wonderful life and a great tribute to a great man. I will miss you, my "Uncle." I will miss the twinkle and mischief in your eyes when you are sharing a laugh or a joke I will miss the big hugs with which we were always greeted, and I will miss (seriously) the feeling of danger and imminent death---although we always knew that Gary, or more likely, Boyd or Dad would find a way out of the situation, and rescue us from the jaws of death just in time--(In this we had perfect trust, and who better to have that kind of trust in)...it was still scary and exhiliarating!!! I will never forget our wonderful and amazing "little" (And BIG) adventures with this amazing man and his equally amazing brothers. What a gift he was to all of us. I and my family will miss him terribly!

Some pictures: Sorry about the quality---(I was worried about the "Doggies Rolling Along" and forgot my camera at home...so all I had was my phone...

At the cemetary: (Those I can make out: (L-R) Cody & Chloe, Randa, Jennifer,Greg Jacobsen JoAnn, Myrtle Marie, Jean, Max Joyce, Boyd and Mom (Lyd)

Dylan, saying goodbye to "Grandpa Gary"Julia & Lincoln next to Grandad's headstone Apparently he and Gary have adjoining Condos....they should have a pretty amazing campsite or ranch house set up there by the time Mom and JoAnn get there. :)

Sadie saying goodbye:

Jill and Grandad's headstone"

Visitng with family and some of the Butlers:
(Marcie & Leanne)
JoAnn, Kathy, TJ, Joe ( and I don't now the rest)
What's left (Except Max who left earlier because of health reasons) 0f the people who gave me the most wonderful memories and childhood a person could ever ask for. Thank you, Thank you. We were the luckiest kids on the Mountain!!!

One last "little adventure" in the Yellow Truck"




The Trapper Hatch kids (and Mom) who loved their Uncle Gary, almost as much as their dad. Thanks, Gary and JoAnn, for all the love, the patience and the amazing memories. We LOVE you!

(Lincoln's birthday to come tomorrow (or soon).)

Just some Pictures from Today

Rhett at Don Lovelace's Wedding --Nice Tux!

Crew from his visit with Grandma a couple of weeks ago...love that face!

Julia sent this picture on my phone today....Lincoln: "Just chillin' on the Tucson Trolley"

Yes, Ladies...he really is THAT good looking.... (and fun too)

Rhett and I at Don's wedding, tonight.

My Latest Grandkid Pictures

(Lily)

All my kids and grandkids were here over the past week after learning about David's liver cancer diagnoses. They have been such a support for their dad and the grandkids have been such a good source of cheer and joy for him, I am sure. I was also so very glad to have all of them home and Amber took some pictures of the three of them, both at my house and over at Dave's. We had a good visit. Julia and Lincoln had to go home yesterday, but will be back in a couple of weeks, hopefully, to help her dad some more. Amber will be here until this weekend with Lily and Crew. Rhett has left New York and is home now, and will be starting a job here for the summer instead, so he can be here to help his dad as well. Matt and Kelly have been a great help and comfort to Dave and Kaylene---but I am sure they have been grateful to share the load since the others got here.

We got a bit of good news today-finally- from Dave's doctors. They are going to start radiation therapy on his lymph nodes as soon as Thursday, they said, and as soon as they can shrink the tumor on the lymph nodes, the surgeon says he will probably do surgery and operate and get out the liver tumor. He told Dave and Kaylene, that he had removed larger ones than Dave's before with no problems. (But since the lymph nodes have cancer--he doesn't want to risk spreading by surgery (I assume). The oncologist is also going to do a new therapy on the liver tumor as well in order to shrink it, and that will probably start as soon as they can do some tests on his heart and lungs to make sure he is strong enough. It sounds like we are finally getting some things done about this condition, and that makes all of us happy and relieved. (And so very thankful for Dr Sorenson of Huntsman's referral to two such great doctors to look after David.) We have had a great outpouring of love, prayers and support from so many friends and family and we are all grateful for such loving people who care about all of us. Thanks to everyone.
Here are some pictures now:

Lily playing in the water in the yard of their house in Vegas. They had been there only a week when the call came for Amber to come home.

Lily and Crew at Grandma's in Lehi, last Sunday night.

Lincoln on the back lawn at Grandpa's in Orem.
"Thoughtful Slinky"

Crewbie with his favorite toy---you got it---a ball...in Grandpa's back yard.

Grinning Lincoln. (Check out those little vampire teeth!--Nothing in the middle just the eye-teeth coming in on top.)

Little Hon-yocks!
Sweet faces---angelic dispositions....(for about 3 seconds)! This one is for Grandpa! We took pictures of the three of them together so we could post some on his facebook page for everyone to see.
Lily-Lu and playing in the water in Vegas.

Crew-be-doo playing in the water in Vegas. (Check out that physique!!)

More ball-playing at Grandpa's.Smiles for Grandma!!

Slinkey Linckey's visit to Grandma's (NaNa's in Lincoln Language)

Julia had to go to San Jose, CA for a wedding of a dear friend last weekend (she was "best man" (Tux and the whole thing.)) Instead of schlepping Lincoln along, (and knowing he would be miserable) she dropped him off here in Utah to stay with us for the 5 days she would be gone. Lucky us---we got to have him here and really get a chance to get to know this cute little guy.
We have decided, Julia and I, that he is going to grow up to be a comedian, because he laughs at everything and also thinks he's so funny (which much of the time, he is.)
He is 9 months old now, and pretty darn cute. (I know---I'm partial--but you gotta agree--they don't come much cuter!)
Ok--here are the pictures:

First night at Grandma's--so far, so good...(Got out the trusty blocks (best toys I ever bought---seriously..)(This is also pre-haircut---don't worry, I asked his mom first---he kinda had a sides-only mullet thing going, and the back was shorter---so I just evened it up ( I promise). (I hated to see the curls go too--but it looked much better after.) (And he looked so grown up, all of a sudden!!)
Oh Man---look at those eyes...This kid is gonna get away with murder---(especially with the girls...take heed, Juls.)Grandma's little Shopping Buddy...

Can you tell he's done this before? He likes to ride side-saddle, with his knee up on the seat and his arm draped over the divider..."Mr Laid-Back"...

Sunday Afternoon---waiting for Uncle Matty and Aunt Kelly-Dude to come pick me up to go to Grandpa's
(He looks much mellower than he actually was. He has been cutting teeth (his whole mouthful seems to be coming in at once.) He got 3 on the bottom last week, and this week (in Utah--his two eye teeth came through (He looks like a little vampire--strange for them to come in before the top front ones---but who knows--I suppose those are not far behind. David's mom said that his teeth came in the same way... Anyway--Sunday Morning, he was NOT a happy camper!
Sweet Smiley boy!
Grandma and her little mischief maker. (I love kids who are just "full of it". Mellow kids are wonderful, but not nearly as entertaining as ones like this (and Crewbie now that he has found some "attitude" haha!) Look at that little face!~Grandma and her Lincoln-Bug. I will miss you, cutie-pie. Thank you for coming to stay with us and spreading the joy. We love you. I had SO much fun with you! (I know Grandpa, Kaylene, Matt & Kelly did too.) (Thanks again, you guys, for helping watch him while I worked.)

Time with Crew-be-doo:

The past 3 weeks I have had a wonderful opportunity to get to know my two little grandsons who were born last year. I have spent so much time with Lily---we have a wonderful bond and we always will, I think--she is definitely one of a kind--but so often, when I took Lily to my house to stay it was to give her mom a break so she could get something done, since Crew was so calm and un-demanding. Consequentially, I didn't get to know Crew as well as I would have liked.
While Amber and Ryan went to Disneyland with Lily, Crew got to stay with Aunt Julie, and I went up every other night to give Julie and Doug a break and to spend some time with Crew before they moved to Las Vegas (last week).
It was so fun to get to know this sweet and amazing little boy. (He has so often been overshadowed by his sparkling older sister---) and yet, we have never 'not' known how special he is. Here are some pictures I took on the last day he was at Julie's.
Crew got a haircut from Cara, and after his bath, much to Julie's chagrin, I combed his hair into a faux-hawk.
When he got home, his mom couldn't figure out where he had gotten all this "attitude".
I told her, it was simple--he didn't have to share the attention with an "attention hog"(Lily) for a whole week...) For the first time he was the center of attention...and he found out he liked it a little bit.
Aside from all that---Crew is still the sweetest and cutest kid I have ever seen (a lot like his Uncle Matty at the same age.) I am so grateful I got to spend the time with him to get to know him better.

Hi Grandma! "Just let me hang on to your knee til I I get my bearings."
"Whatzup?"" I am the "Master" of all I survey!....you got a problem with that??"
"Happy Crewbie"...I miss you so much, my cute, sweet boy! (and I love you even more!) Please come see me soon!

Kelly's Graduation

Our Kelly Graduated from UVU (first graduating class to graduate from Utah Valley UNIVERSITY) last week. She graduated in Mathematics Education and has been hired to teach full time at American Fork High School (after doing a full year internship there) for the coming year. We are proud of you Kelly! You are doing your part to add a great facet of depth (that of Mathematical ability) to the "Hatch" gene pool and we are very grateful for that! (haha). Nevertheless---we are so proud of you and we love you dearly! CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Kelly and Parents:
Kelly and Siblings (and Matt):

Matt, Kelly Janet & Grandpa Palfreyman:

Way to go, Kel!!!

Linc's first cart ride...

I got this CUTE picture from Juls the other day with Lincoln's first ride in a grocery cart (without the baby seat.) It's obvious how HAPPY he is to be sitting in this part of the cart, finally, and how proud he is of his latest accomplishment.

Yay!!! I'm riding in the cart like a "big boy"!!!