Family Reunion

It was the annual Hatch Reunion this last weekend.  Troy and Scheli's family were in charge this year.  Since 3 of us girls are postal (tee hee)  we had to start Saturday night.  All three girls worked on Saturday morning.  
It all worked out well.

The theme for this reunion was CANDY!  I'm going to guess that Phynix had a lot to do with the choice of theme.  We played the bubble gun game... (I will never eat bubble gum again!)  Scheli found over 200 questions about candy!  Fun facts as well as facts about all of our likes in regards to food.  We were put into teams of 2 and if we got a question wrong both members had to put a piece in your mouth.  200 questions.... there was a lot of chewed bubble gum!

Houston did this a few times.  Not a good idea to have stubble when you do it. LOL!

This is the feeling we all had... 

It was fun to hear all the questions and watch as everyone started to resemble chipmunks.

We had a raffle, of course.  I was not on top of things and ended up getting my stuff the day of.  Oops. :)  I will say though, that there were no dude gifts.  Lots of good stuff and everyone got stuff.  We also, take pictures every year.  I've needed a tripod for my camera for a longtime.  Perfect time to get one!

Here are some of the shots.

This is all of Angie's clan that could make it...

This is the Julie we love to see!

The best part of having a continuous shot camera

Troy's little family

This is so adorable!

  Phynix giving her, soon to be, baby brother Gryphin a kiss

Julie was in charge of the camera and said I had to post this...

Julie, me, Troy, and Angie

I love funny shots like this

We really had a good time getting together.  I really do love my family so much.  We are all so different from each other.  I think that keeps us all grounded and very forgiving.

Any day now, we will have another member.  Baby Gryphin should be here soon.  Troy is already a proud daddy and Phynix will be a great big sister. I can already see her pronouncing words for him so he says them right.  Lol!

Next up, the family Christmas party.  Man, I LOVE Parties!

Ridin' in the Dune Buggy

We were under the impression that the dune buggy was up at Houston's parent's cabin, in Wyoming.  Little did we know, it was still parked back in the shop.  Houston wanted to go take it up American Fork Canyon just for fun. So... We did!

Houston has been going hiking every Saturday morning.  (I can't because of work!  BOO!)  Anyway,  he wanted to see where the top of the Grove Creek Trail was and thought we might find it if we headed up Timpooneke Trail (Road).

It was an awesome ride.  Makes me want to go camping REALLY bad. All the trees and animals.  We saw at least 3 or 4 squirrels, some sage grouse, and a mountain goat.  Of course the goat popped up right as we had come through some trees, so I had no time to get the camera up. :(  It was really cool anyway.  We got to watch it run for a little ways anyway. The grouse flew up from the bushes right by the road. Houston's not a big hunter, but he does enjoy hunting pine grouse with he friend Justin.  So he kept pointing out good spots where you might find some.  All he needs now is a bird dog. ;)  House warming gift... maybe... When we get a house... LOL!

Moving on... To Houston's surprise, Grove Creek Trail ends right at the very bumpy dirt road we were on.  He wasn't sure where the road ended up, so we turned the buggy around and headed back the way we came.  For some reason it has a problem when it idles and it will die.  Thankfully Houston is a pro at stick and he got it moving every time.  I learned so many new things about driving a manual on this trip. I had no idea that you could let them roll and they would just start up!  Awesome!  I, myself, can't not drive a stick.  Maybe one day I will learn.

Here are some other photos from our adventure...

Just after we saw the mountain goat. We had been bounced around so much, we took a breather.

I honestly didn't think this picture would work out.  We were bouncing like crazy.  What a good little camera!

This is from the top of Grove Creek Trail.  Your supposed to be able to see  Utah Lake, but thanks to all the fires, it's BARELY visible.  

This is from back on the main road heading down.  I will say that the smoke did make the sun look pretty awesome though.  

Totally weird facial expression, but what can I say.  I don't do serious very well. :P

I love this picture!  Only took one try!

Hopefully we can take more trips up the canyon with the good ol dune buggy.  It was so worth the trip!

7 Brides for 7 Brothers

As of last year we have discovered the wonderful plays up at Sundance.  Last year, we saw The Sound of Music.  This year it was this!  My mom LOVES this musical.  I think I've seen it at least 100 times. So when we found out it was coming we all got tickets.  

It was so much fun.  No rain this year. (last year we got soaked)  They did a really good job.  There aren't very many pictures because, my parent's had to race back down from Cache Valley to make the show.  There was a slight miscommunication about what day the Pehrson reunion was.  So, my parents arrived just before it was about to start.  Not much photo time.  Here are the few I got.  Trust me, it's not much...

Houston, being a good sport!

And.... the stage.

 I didn't lie when I said, "A few".  

All that matters is that we had a good time.  I can't wait to see what they will do next year!

Googly Eyes!

 I'm getting ready for Halloween early again this year.  I saw a cute frame project on Pinterest, made from a cheap wooden frame, paint and googly eyes. 

A Joann's Fabric Store opened up right by my parent's house, where Roberts Crafts used to be.  My mom and I stepped in yesterday.  I found all the things I needed, so I couldn't resist. 

Simple to make! The things you'll need to make your own are...

Wood Craft Frame 

( I used the one on the left)

Craft Paint

An Assortment of Googly Eyes!

(You will need more than you think. I had to make a second trip this morning to get more)

...And a glue gun, of course!

All you do, is sand the frame.

Paint it:

and glue on the googly eyes however you want.

All done!

I opted to put one of my favorite Halloween sayings in it, instead of a picture.  Every time I read it, I feel my hair stand up a bit.

I can thank dafont.com for the fabulous font.  It's so perfect!

Now the question is... Can you find the oval eyes on it...?  (Ha ha! I'm so sneaky) :P


Anyway, there is another easy craft that anyone can do.

London Olympics 2012

I have to tell you now that I'm absolutely enamored with the Olympics.  Summer... Winter... doesn't matter.  A tradition, that kind of came to life by accident, has become something I look forward to every 2 years.  It started with the Beijing games.  Getting ready to watch the opening ceremonies, my parents and I, were trying to decide what to have for dinner while we watched.  I said since it was in China, we should eat Chinese food.  Well, that tradition has continued.  For the Vancouver games.  I hunted high and low for recipes that were Canadian.  (That was a hard one) :P 

Well, this years games were a bit easier to get a menu worked out.  I always want to eat something that I think of when I think of the host country.  So... What to you think of when  you think of London England...?  Fish and Chips, of course!!   So, I had the main course worked out.  Now a drink, and dessert...  I'm a Harry Potter nerd so I found a recipe for Butter Beer.  (Made with Cream Soda, butter and rum extracts.)  Dessert was the hard one, so I went on a hunt for traditional British desserts.  I came across English Trifle.  Easy, and made with things I like!  Score! 

So, to recap.  Menu consisted of:

-Fish & Chips
-Butter Beer
-English Trifle

Lucky us, we timed everything just perfect that we were sitting down to eat right as the Opening Ceremonies started. 

We did learn some very important things while making our dinner:


1. Don't forget to dry the fish before throwing it into the oil. 
2. Don't let the oil get too hot.
3.  The topping that goes on the Butter Beer makes it foam up, so don't fill the cup too full.
4.  When making oven baked fries (Chips) if they are not browning, but are cooked through, throw them in a fry pan on medium high to crisp them up quick. 
5.  When making English Trifle.  It doesn't make good left overs.  The cake get soggy... FAST.  So, try to make just as much as you want to eat for your meal.  


I took pictures of our meal, as well as the little British "extras" I got to make it just a bit more special.

Just before the Opening Ceremonies started!

English Trifle 

(Minus the topping. coming in another photo)

Butter Beer

The Whole Shebang!

In this last photo, the little cup in the middle, by the salt, is Malt Vinegar.  I remember what I was told before I went to England in high school.  The Brits always eat Fish and Chips with Malt Vinegar and salt.  I had to make it authentic!  It's actually really good that way, so I was all for it.

Since this night, our TV hasn't moved off of NBC.  When I'm not working, I'm totally plastered to the games.

The next Olympics in 2014 are in Russia, and the next Summer Games are in Brazil.  I'm pretty excited about finding fun things to eat for those games too!