Happy 37th Jocelynn!

Happy Birthday Jocelynn! Here are 37 of my favorite things (or memories) about you.

1. We were great "snoopers" for Christmas gifts and even better at un-taping and re-taping without any evidence left behind.

2. We made the coolest cardboard box bank and pretend to be tellers.

3. Remember (when we were young) practicing our spelling words on each other's backs with soap in the tub.

4. You didn't make me feel bad when all the people in high school said, "Oh...your Jocelynn Hatch's sister! She's so pretty. Yall look nothing alike!"

5. Your were the buffer that allowed me to stay naive.

6. We'd share chewy sweet tarts and sprees when we went to get candy.

7. Do you remember rocking back and forth for hours in that 70's orange laundry basket...pretending we were a ship getting tossed over?

8. You beat me to the toilet when we were kids. We were both insistent on not letting the other have the seat....your pee went in and as I sat in front of you, mine shot across the room and hit the wall!

9. Playing church ball was great...watching you shoot two handed from the chest and seeing the fire come out of you with girls who had no clue of the sport.

10. Thanks for letting me hang out with your crowd at Casa Ole!

11. You told me bird poop was ice cream and I almost licked it off my arm!

12.You and Steph tried to get me to eat rabbit pellots by telling me it was something else.

13. We played on the same softball team one year....the Condors.

14. You and Amy Woods showed up at Casa Ole' on my first date.

15. You introduced me to all your guy friends so I had a room full of Junior guys watching over me in Spanish class.

16. Remember making up dumb ways to remember our Spanish vocabulary "es-cuch- ar" (I scooch up so I can "listen" better!

17. I think I'm finally getting over the whip lash of driving in Dad's clunker with you...I'll never forget...seat pushed all the way up with a pillow to prop you up even more!

18. You and Steph taught me how to skate in New Mexico. You each held my hand to steady me.

19. You helped me survive my first year of Young Women's Camp....the torrential rains...rivers running through our tents, bugs, etc

20. You helped me through infertility

21. When Micaela was born you and Steph came down to celebrate with me....to decorate her nursery and meet your new niece...Hence the "likables" began!

22. Although you've been far away for many years, you've always kept in touch and made me feel like I'm a part of your life.

23. You send me fall leaves from the mountains in Porcupine.

24. Your intuitive to people's needs and feelings. You say and do the right things when people need help.

25. You have hilarious kids. Their stories bring me humor when I need to think happy thoughts!

26. You help the Hatch family grapevine flow pretty good!

27. You're very creative and talented. Thanks for all the craft projects you've done with me!

28. You're a good listener and you encourage our whole family

29. I love your laugh....I laugh more with you in the summer, than I do the entire year I'm away from you!

30. Thank you for loving my family and for all the times you've sat on the phone to listen to Annika talk your head off!

31. You are non-judgemental and you see the good in others!

32. I love the way you (and my other sisters) take care of Grandma and Grandpa Cooper. It shows your appreciation for your roots!

33. I loved searching through the box of Whooppers with you...trying to find the hollow ones!

34. I love the way you help me see humor in stressful situations. Thanks for the song of the 5 Little Lepers when we had staph infection!

35. I love taking walks with you in Paradise...talking as the sunsets and enjoying the cool evening weather.

36. I love what you taught me during Kyles final round of chemo...how the two of you called upon the enabling power of the atonement to pull him through. You taught me that Jesus had already suffered that experience for Kyle and callling upon those powers for help truly carried him through the most trying time of his treatment.

37. I count you as one of my greatest blessings....that Heavenly Father gave you to me as a sister and a forever friend!

Have a Happy Birthday Jocelynn! Love, Sherrie

P.S. One to grow on..... Remember when mom called you a slobbery dick? We finally got the courage to tell mom what it meant and almost peed our pants laughing so hard in the process. (For those of you who don't know....in her day it meant a person who was messy at the dinner table and she's so naive she had no clue about the other meaning)

Halloween Fun!

Flouride mouth rinse...here we come! Never let your kids go to two trunk-or-treats! Of course, my kids had a great time but I'm suffering the consequences. We went to our first trunk-or-treat with Tina and Ryan's kids in Southlake. My kids got to ride horses, make crafts, eat chili and cotton candy. (The ironic thing was that a dentist was handing out the cotton candy!!!) Then we hung out with Shayne and Jen at our church party followed by a trip to Double

Daves!

I think Halloween should have a Surgeon Generals warning: "Participation in Halloween my cause excessive sugar rushes, bouncing off the walls, and extreme tantrums for more candy. Participate at your own risk!"

Learning from the BEST

We want to give a big THANKS to Grandpa Ellis for helping us move. Wesley especially loved working side-by-side with Grandpa building the table and putting his bed together. Thanks for taking time to make memories with your grandson! Thanks for lightening our load!

Playing at the Pumkin Patch

We found a great Pumpkin Patch in Flowermound just in time to for Halloween! The kids jumped on moonwalks, played in hay mazes, rode a merry-go-round, and played in the pumpkin patch! We even went on a hayride pulled by a tractor just like Grandpa Cooper's.

Home Sweet Home

If everything goes as planned we should be into our new home in early October. My favorite part of this home is the lot. The backyard looks over a huge greenbelt. It's located on a cul-de-sac with only grass between our home and the one facing us. We have a guest room so we need lots of visitors! Brian's work and the elementary school are very close by. We've already met two families from church that live in our subdivision and they have babysitters!

Good-bye Houston! Ft. Worth-Here We Come!!

Life has been such a whirlwind this summer that many of our friends don't even know we've moved. In April Brian got a contract-to-hire postition with Textron (Bell Helicopter) in Ft. Worth. He move up here and commuted home on the weekends. Right before school began his position was made full time. At the very last minute, we found a home and moved up without even getting a chance to say good-bye. We will be coming home often since our home is on the market in Houston (unless any of you have friends who need to buy a home). Part of me doesn't want to say good-bye because I'm not a big public cryer. Over the last 10 years we've made so many good friends that are like family. We couldn't have asked for a better place to live during that time in our lives. It was just what we needed as we began our family. If everything works out we'll move into a new home in Roanoke Tx (north of Ft. Worth) within a month. We love the town. It's small, warm and friendly. Brian's work is only 8 minutes away! We'll be 10 minutes from Shayne and Jen! Although we'll miss our family and friends, we feel good about this change. In the past, we've always been blessed when we've followed the Lord's will. With such a difficult summer, we've also learned the importance of being together as an entire family.

Does she Scream Mischievious or What????

Annika's newest discovery is Piggy Tails. She wants to wear them everyday! We experience the terrific and terrible twos many times a day with her right now. Sometimes she does the cutest things like when I had a headache and she led me to the sofa and brought me a bag of cheese to put on my head. (She knows I put bags of frozen veggies on my head when I have headaches). Then today she threw a fit and knocked over our alarm, threw over the swim bag, and knocked over my suitcase! We might need anger management classes for her!

A New School Year In Roanoke Texas

Roanoke Elementary has rounded up two new Roanoke Rangers! Each morning the principal meets them in the gym for announcements and when she asks them if they are ready for a great day they all yell back, YEE HAW!!!! Wesley is in kindergarten now and Miceala's in 2nd grade. They have transitioned (in school) better than I expected! Their school is decorated in a cowboy theme and they have very friendly, down to earth, teachers. Wesley's in a dual language program where half of his instruction each day is in Spanish! Micaela got an award for being one of the top writers in her class of 44 students. (They have 2 teachers).

Double the Pleasure!

Meet our newest niece and nephew, Bryton and Dayton! Last night I got to hold them for the 1st time. I walked into the hospital room and there they were face to face! I think it's so neat that for whatever reason we may not know, Heavenly Father sends some of his children down in pairs! Congratulations Jennifer and Chad! They are beautiful!

Sean and Kellye's Wedding

You know you're getting old when you clearly remember your little brother's birth and then you see him get married! On June 6th Sean and Kellye were married in the Houston Temple. They were so happy and they make a balanced couple! We are excited to have Kellye as the newest addition to our family!

Micaela was especially excited to be a flower girl. She's been very "concerned" about "loosing" her Uncle Sean to marriage and so this made everything better to her. She recently had a "movie night" at Sean and Kellye's apartment and thought it was so neat that he'd still make her feel important! Thank you Sean and Kellye!

Our Texas Tornado

Wesley is always on the move leaving a trail of debris behind! You'd have to see his creativity in motion to really understand. When he wants to skate, he draws pictures of wheels, cuts them out, and tapes them to his shoes. (Or he's tried standing on multiple rolling pins at the same time.) When he wants to fly, he makes wings out of paper and uses Elmer's Glue to attach them to his neck. There isn't a problem he can't solve alone! This magna doodle drawing is of "Lightning McQueen transformed (that's his favorite word right now) into an airplane that can shoot arrows that turn cars into dark sand." Wesley dashes all hopes of a "normal family image" for us. He loves to make goofy faces and dance like aboriginal/sumo wrestler/robotic spaz, especially when guest are around and he can get attention or a reaction out of people. I bet you can guess.....I most definitely love this attention he brings to our family- Ha ha!! But he is a cute sucker when he acts normal. Check out his pre-K graduation picture. I haven't given up hope.

Micaela

is the little mother

hen around our home!

She's very creative and loves

take charge.

Micaela just finished 1st grade and she won a gold medal for reading everyday for at least 7 months of the school year. We are very proud of her hard work. We especially love to read all the creative stories that she writes. Micaela's school mascot is a leopard so she loves to wear leopard clothes! Micaela is excited for summer to be here!

She recently started a club with her friend called the AM (All Mammals) Club. They have created songs and cheers for their club! (Those of you who know I'm far from being an animal lover are probably laughing . It's really not funny...I'm trying to separate my feelings and do what is best for my daughter! I'm letting her free spirit soar and as long as she's got some topic to interest her academically...I'm ok with it!)

Future Fashion Designer

One of the many highlights of my day is seeing Annika's potential for being a fashion designer. She's all about accessorizing! You know she doesn't get this talent from me!! The pictures tell the story!

Blogging Here I Come!

Hey Everyone!

I'm going to try this blogging thing out and see if it helps me keep in touch with my family and friends a little better. (Maybe it will help me feel like a young buck too....like all the young moms doing this today) Although, I must say upfront, my blog will not be updated very often because the theme of my blog is "Let's get real" and reality is I keep busy with my drama queen Micaela, my aboriginal dancer, Wesley, and my brute dress up queen Annika! We are a real family that has good days and bad days. I love my kids...they keep me on my toes...and these are the things that give me laughs throughout my day!