It was so much fun to see everyone last week! I was looking for a picture to post of all of us, but I don't have any of the whole group. So here's a picture of Doug helping Jake have a "positive potty experience." ;)

Doug's on an airplane headed to California right now for a week of meetings and work at Google to get re-hired as a contractor. We're happy about the Google work, just hoping I don't go into labor this week.

We're sad to be the only Hatches left in UT right now, but excited that more and more of you are planning to come back! Keep in touch!

Have you ever heard of the phrase "An Elephant in your closet". The idea is that you go along thinking thing are going good, completely unaware of that "Elephant" that is going to come out and sit on you. I had an "Elephant" experience this week.
Three weeks ago I got on line and bought one way tickets for Jenna and Courtney to fly home rather than drive across country with Tom and Matt. (Although I'm sure Matt is wondering why HE's driving across country with Jenna's Stuff???) So life is good...I'm sleeping well at nights knowing I've taken care of my kids!!
Then last Fri. Dad was looking at the tickets becuase he thought he'd gotten an email saying they'd changed something about our flights to Utah. Come to find out they'd changed my times so I was flying from SLC to Detroit and sitting there for 5 hours and then going to Louisville rather than a 1 hour layover. So he called Delta and said the longer layover got me into Louisville too late and it wasn't acceptable (Dad's so good at this!) and he got them to fly me from SLC to Cincinniti and onto Lexington, which is the very same flight that I'd booked Jenna and Courtney on! Life is still good. (Dad was going to be driving thru Louisville on his way home and said they'd swing by the airport and pick up the car that was going to still be there).
THEN he looked at the other tickets for Jenna and Courtney and discovered that I'd booked them for JAN and Courtney. (Now Life isn't so good. The elephant is starting to sit on me) I bribed him into calling the airlines and going to bat for me. He spent 1 1/2 hours on the phone with Delta trying to get them to change the names becuase it was obviously a mistake in the typing. The ticket had Jenna's birthday on it and they sent the confirmation to Jenna's email and he told them to check and see that I was ALREADY on the same flight that day on another ticket, so it wasn't like we were just trying to give our ticket to someone else becuase we'd changed our minds about flying that day. But they refused. Finally they agree to give me a credit for the ticket price but that was all they'd do. Now life is really not good becuase I've got to call Jenna and tell her that instead of flying home (4 hours) she's driving hom (28 hours). So Dad got on the computer and found her a ticket that flies from SLC to Louisville and it ended up being slightly less than her original ticket. He was hesitant to buy it becuase he said she'd get into Louisville at 5:00 and have to sit at the airport until midnight that night when Matt and him would be driving past and could pick her up, but then I reminded him that the car we were driving over would still be there for Jenna.
So in the end it all worked out well....Jenna and I just swapped tickets. It makes me wonder what other "Elephants" are hiding out in the closet waiting to sit on me though....

First, I went to the health department and got two shots in each arm. That's right- FOUR shots altogether! Why would I get four shots, you ask? So that I can go to Africa this summer and not die of some crazy disease like yellow fever or polio. AND, Mom, you are right, the typhoid shot is really making my arm sore. The yellow fever shot is, too. But, they were given indifferent arms, so long story short- my arms hurt!!

And, the kicker- I paid $300 dollars to go through that misery! But, you can all rest assured that I won't die of some strange disease, or suffer painful bouts of diarrhea and vomiting from typhoid, or hepatitis A! (I'll probably get lots of insect bites, instead.....)

Then, I went to work, and guess what I did all afternoon and evening? Moved offices....... for the second time this year...... last time I moved offices was in the beginning of the year, when I hadn't yet accumulated much stuff. This time (at the end of the year) I have accumulated LOTS! Moving it to the new office wasn't very difficult, but then I had the urge to organize..... which took lots of time.....

After moving my stuff to the new office, I helped Dan and Deb rearrange my old office, which involved moving lots of heavy furniture (two desks, a fax machine, a printer, four filing cabinets, and random chairs). And remember, I was trying to do all this with two sore arms.......


After all this moving, I got kind of thirsty. Dan was nice and let me try one of his Monster Energy drink, with enough caffeine to wire a small army! Plus, it has ginseng, which definitely has a stimulant effect on me (if you're curious about that story, ask me about the time I took ginseng on accident instead of eccinacea for a cold...... this was pre-pharmacy I should point out....)

Anyway, many hours later I also had a Doctor Pepper with dinner (b/c the tap water in Sarasota is not drinkable, and I was thirsty......). Needless to say, it's now 2:52 am, and I just got home from work, and I'm wide awake...... guess the Monstor drinks really do work!!

So, that was my crazy day. To make the day even more random, and crazy, I parked next to an Audi TT Coup tonight in my parking complex, which got me really excited for the birthday present you are all chipping in to get me for my birthday :)

Anyone know who the girl in this Jeep looks like? (According to Jake?) Amie! We were driving and Jake was sure it was Aunt Amie and kept asking, "Amie, see?" He was bummed we never got to see her. He also broke down in tears today when a man who looked a bit like Tom walked past our house. He called after him, "Pa-pa?!"

Hey Everyone,
We're going to host breakfast at our house on Thursday at 8:30AM. No need to bring anything. We've got it covered. Fiances and boyfriends/ girlfriends welcome.

- Doug

I'm posting pictures of the place where we're having my reception, mostly for Mom and Dad to see, but you can all enjoy.

To the left is the hall when you first walk in. To the right is the reception room. There's the wreath-looking thing in the center, where some people hang things (japanese lanterns, stars, etc.)





This is a view of the "serving area" where they'll put the food. It's just a small alcove to the left side of the "arch":


Here are views of the "arch" in the far end of the room, and the view of the room from the opposite direction. The third picture is from off of the deck (you can see the deck in the first picture below, its right through the two glass doors)--when you look out you can see all of the golf course/a pond, etc.

Today I received an e-mail saying I wasn't accepted to the Study & Internship Program in Germany.

How do you girls feel about this pattern for skirts to wear at the wedding? We looked at fabric today, and this was among the favorites. Even if its not this particular fabric, we at least know kind of what color/style we're going for. So I thought I'd put up a few examples. (Mom, I'll email you more specifics soon).

Dad and I went to a movie last night. (Yes, Courtney, that's all we ever do.) Allie Simmons is staying with us this week and she got home before we did and when we got home she came running out saying that there was a bat in the house! So, armed with brooms, we searched thru the whole house and couldn't find anything. I kept having visions of the squirrel that got into our house (remember that Amie). Not a pleasant memory. Anyway, we didn't turn up anything so I went upstairs to take a shower and when I came back into the bedroom to get my PJ's there was a bird flying around and around the room. Scared me to death! Tom came running in with a broom and whacked it and I threw a towel over it and we carried it outside and turned it loose. The poor thing was chirping it's head off. I wouldn't be surprised if it had a heart attack and died somewhere!! That was our fun for the night.

Today, during a mere 30 second phone conversation, I used the following words:

• habeas corpus
• suppression
• voluntariness
• custody versus seizure
• prophylactic

I didn't realize how ridiculous it was until I hung up the phone and saw the look on my friend's face. I can't wait to be done with this whole 'law school' thing so I can go back to my regular, albeit arguably pretentious, vocabulary.

As you all know, my birthday is coming up soon, too. To make birthday giving easier, I am following Heather's lead. I would like the Audi TT Coup, in aruba blue pearl. See pricing here http://www.audiusa.com. Feel free to send me money directly, or drop off the car at my doorstep. Can't wait to drive into my 30's in style!

What a great family! :) It was so fun to get together with all of you (minus Tom & Jan) yesterday! Jake absolutely loves his aunts and uncles (we can officially count Hyrum now - yea!) and it's been wonderful to live close to so many of you this past year. After all the Easter candy and cookies Jake ate last night I gave him the best tooth-brushing he's ever had and he slept very soundly last night. Today he's been asking for Aunt Amie and talking about you all. This afternoon when he was getting into stuff, I asked him who was a bugger and he said, "Map!" ha! ha! Anyway, I posted all the pix from last night to Picasa, and a few to face book. And thanks to Jenna for hosting! :)

Hello family. As you might know, my birthday is coming up. People usually ask what I want, so I decided to make things easy for you: I bought Chacos for my birthday present. So if you want to contribute $10 you can give them to me. :) If you have something else in mind, that's great too.

Remember how all of you make fun of me, and say that I don't know how to correctly apply sunscreen, because I always get funny burn lines? Well, today I layed by the pool for less than an hour and DID NOT USE SUNSCREEN and still got funny burn lines!! How does that happen???? This picture does not really do it justice, since the ankles are the worst. I have to admit- I always thought it was the sunscreen, but apparantly it's just me! Maybe some of my skin is easier to tan that other parts....... one of life's greates mysteries.... on another note, have I mentioned how nice it is to be able to go to the pool in Florida year round??