My little brother came home from his mission and he got to meet Chad for the very first time! It was a little hectic meeting him at the airport but...it was SO good to see him again! John also got to meet Kua for the first time. But the one who tripped him out the most was Mandy. She has changed SO much over the past little while and he couldn't get over how grown up she looked. Anyone who knows John, loves him. He's pretty much amazing and we love having him back!
Group Hug!!!
John and the newest members of the fam.
Tai realized that waiting for Uncle John to get his luggage was obviously going to take some time...so he got comfortable...on the airport floor.
My Brother & Sister-in-laws Cute little Fam!Cute little Kua!
So...do you remember that one part in the beginning of "That Thing You Do" when:
Well...it wasn't his arm...it was his leg...and it wasn't leaping over parking meters...it was down hill skiing.
It was Chad's first time on ski's. He had decided (after quite a bit of coercing from his wife) that he was going to give skiing a go since it's one of my favorite outdoor activities and all of my family members are avid skiers. So...the day after New Years we went up to the Beav and took Chad on his first run down the hill on Skis. Sure he biffed it a couple of times, but he made it down Little Beaver fairly well, all things considered. After a few runs down the little beav, and a couple brief tutorials from me and my dad, Mr. Ski Patrol himself, my dad decides that Chad is ready for Gentle Ben. Now...don't let the name fool you. Gentle Ben is nice and all...but he's not as gentle as his name would imply.
On the first drop off Chad ate it pretty hard. He pulled one of those head first-kart wheels with a double lutz spin kind of wrecks. You know the ones I mean. Everyone who skis or boards has either had personal experience with one of these specific types of wrecks or have at least seen one happen from the safety of their lift chair and screamed out a rating on a scale from 1-10 based on snow displacement and the radius of their gear (poles, skis, hats, etc...) strewn across the mountain side.
He pulled the "Man" card for a while, and kept getting back up to try and finish the run. After 3 failed attempts and making it another 400 yards down the mountain...he knew something was wrong and opted for the "sissy" way off the mountain. Luckily my dad was skiing with us and radioed in for a toboggan. Chad said that was a once in a life time experience...and although the toboggan ride was fun...he'd prefer to never do it again.
We got down the mountain and made it to the Budge Clinic in Logan where we spent the next 3 hours waiting for the doc to tell us the verdict. After a few x-rays we found out that Chad had a "Mid-Fibular Fracture" And would be in a boot for 3-6 weeks and on crutches for the first half of that as well. Joy.
Oh well. What can you do? We feel pretty blessed that it was such a minor break. It could have been much worse. We're grateful it wasn't.
Chad getting his first set of x-rays. Note the baggy of snow in front that we used as a make-shift ice pack while waiting, and the green lead appron in the back...to protect the family jewels.
The demoralizing wheel chair. This was a breaking point for him I think.
The sign I noticed AFTER I took all these pictures with my phones...suckers. They shouldn't have kept us waiting so long...maybe I wouldn't have taken so many pics.
This year the Hatch family had some conflicting Christmas Schedules. Tyler and Janet were going to be over at the Grahams for Christmas Eve, and Zac and Andee were going to be in Hawaii (the nerds) and we were schedule to be up in Logan starting Christmas Eve, so we opted to through the Hatch Family Christmas Party a little early! But it was worth it! We had so much fun!
We started off at Bonnie & Ffej's for a really good dinner with ham and turkey and funeral potatoes. And let's not forget the REAL Ranch dressing. A must have for any true Hatch. None of that icky bottled stuff for us. No sir. Beeb and Heidi and the kids joined us and then we headed down to our place for games and desert!
I made some cinnamon rolls...which actually turned out to be just rolls with frosting on top because I didn't put in NEAR enough cinnamon -Note to self. The big hit of the party was the Cocoa! We brought out our Cocoa-latte machine we got for our wedding which makes THE BEST hot cocoa! Mmmm.
Such a good time! Having the party a week before Christmas made us all a little trunky. Work was definately not on the "Top 10 Things I want to do tomorrow" list.
My little brother came home from his mission and he got to meet Chad for the very first time! It was a little hectic meeting him at the airport but...it was SO good to see him again! John also got to meet Kua for the first time. But the one who tripped him out the most was Mandy. She has changed SO much over the past little while and he couldn't get over how grown up she looked. Anyone who knows John, loves him. He's pretty much amazing and we love having him back!
Tai realized that waiting for Uncle John to get his luggage was obviously going to take some time...so he got comfortable...on the airport floor. 
Cute little Kua!
Cute little Kua!
Chad getting his first set of x-rays. Note the baggy of snow in front that we used as a make-shift ice pack while waiting, and the green lead appron in the back...to protect the family jewels.
