My Dad Totally Called Me Out...

...he feels I have not updated in a timely fashion. Hopefully this assuages him.

We arrived in Phoenix late Monday night. The girls spent Tuesday getting reacquainted with their Hatch cousins.

Kiki and Lani

Allow me to recreate their conversation for you.
Kiki: Hey there, I'm Kiki.
Lani: What kind of a crazy name is that?
Kiki: Nice haircut, %#$%@%^.

They played and played. This pretty much covers what they did for the majority of our stay.

On Wednesday, Kate helped Grandma Hatch make the rolls for Thanksgiving dinner.

We also had family pictures. I was sweating bullets about how to convince Kiki to wear "dressy" clothes. Children's Place saved the day- I found some velvet shorts and Grandma's ice cream bribe sealed the deal. Strangely, Grandma Hatch was absent when the time came to PAY for the ice cream, so Ruth, you owe me $2.00.

Kate and Kiki with Uncle Mark.

Earlier this month, I harassed 6 out of the 7 Hatch siblings into signing up for a 10k Thanksgiving morning. They were all faster than me- every single one of them. That's what I get for calling them lazy and scared. I set myself a goal of finishing in less than an hour, and crossed the finish line at 59:59. At least I understand my pace.

After burning 700 calories running for an hour, it was time to consume several thousand.

Christy and Wes

Tiffany and Kate

Brett, Burke, and Lirio

After Thanksgiving dinner it was time to collapse.

I guess one advantage of a Phoenix Thanksgiving is the post-feast sunbathing.
Tiffany and I made delicious pies- coconut cream, banana cream (my Grandma's recipe), pumpkin pecan, pumpkin cheesecake, and triple berry. I hate to brag, but they were awesome.

On Friday we headed to the park to celebrate Kate's birthday- it's a little early but who cares?

Bruce, Burke, Mark, James, and Paul

We ate cupcakes and rode the merry-go-round.

Then we rode the SLOWEST train around the park.

Ellyse and Lani.

When we left the park Kate said, "They know it's not really my birthday, right? I'm still 5, right?"

Saturday we stopped at Bruce's parents for a fat breakfast before we headed out. Kiki cried and cried to leave Grandma. It was heartbreaking- earlier in the week she'd said, "I get to be with Grandma? I can be happy now." The ride home was long and uneventful. We lunched in Kanab, hit a terrible snowstorm between Kanab and Panguitch, and thanked our lucky stars for the 80 mile speed limit on I-15. We were in Nephi when my mother-in-law called to tell us the BYU game had 5 minutes left, and I was sick thinking about being stuck in traffic when we were so close to home. I'm pretty sure she said a little prayer for us (So, football fans, thank Ruth Hatch for your exciting game that went into overtime) because we made it home by 7:30 with no traffic hitches at all. Thank heavens I know someone righteous or I would never get any blessings.

We had so much fun, but I am happy to be home, even though I have been cold ever since we got here. It was a great Thanksgiving break.

A Few Words About Kiki

I frequently marvel at Kiki. (By the way, she's talking quite a bit now, and has told us repeatedly that her name is indeed Kiki. "I not know Maggie. I Kiki.") Bruce and I have compared parenting Kiki to keeping a chimp as a pet. She is so cute to look at, yet is hairy, freakishly strong, wildly unpredictable, and prone to ripping your face off.

My visiting teachers came last week to give a little lesson about service. As they finished up Kiki came in asking for a back scratch, and the VTs remarked, "There's always chances for moms to give service, isn't there?" I nodded, and then Kiki said, "And now scratch my hiney." Lesson notwithstanding, the only hiney I scratch belongs to moi.

She hates clothes. Even as the weather has grown cold, her standard outfit continues to be shorts and a tank top. She does agree to wear a coat and boots when heading out of doors, but her true feelings come out when she says things like, "I want to go home and be nudie now."

I took the credit for Kate's good behavior, but in hindsight, Kate is a child who is just naturally obedient (Please let her always be this way...). Kiki, on the other hand, is argumentative just for the fun of it. Time outs don't seem to phase her, ultimatums are useless, and she is as stubborn as all get out.

Yet I love her. Like crazy. She will lay in bed for an hour, quiet as a mouse, then sneak downstairs and say, "Mama, I want you to cuckle (cuddle) me." She tells me she loves me, and she is learning to say "Please" and "Thanks" but it sounds like "Peez" and "Ganks." She loves to sing- "When I sing it makes me so happy." She has her cute little ways of making me forgive all of her naughtiness.

SD: Seaside Village and Sea World (again!)

We spent yesterday morning at Seaside Village.

Kate was totally obsessed with taking and posing for pictures.

It was very picturesque.

We browsed the shops.

Kiki did not find this funny at all.

Then, back for more Sea World.

Bruce showed Kiki a starfish at the tide pools and told her it was "like Patrick."

"Then where Plankton and Spongebob?" she wanted to know.

Kate braved another ride with Bruce.

We happened to catch the trainers working with the killer whales. We were up close and personal, the trainer chatted with us for a minute, and Kate was completely fascinated.

Of course, Kiki found a way to cheapen the moment like only Kiki can.

"Hey, Shamu! Whaddaya think of THESE?"

SD, CA: the beach and Sea World (finally!)

Since the girls don't understand the concept of a time change, we were up bright and early Sunday for a walk around the bay.

Addendum: Some of us walked.

Others of us collapsed on the sidewalk screaming, "I can't walk! My legs are bwoken!"

We went to the beach.

Since it is California, the girls experimented with having 2 dads.

Tiffany was happy for a reason to wear her new giant hat.

Bruce and James.

Grandma Ellie and the girls played in the waves.

Later that afternoon, we FINALLY made our way to Sea World.

I was every bit as excited as Kate and Kiki.

Who wouldn't be excited to see Shamu?

Kiki's shirt had a picture of Dora on it, and when she had worn out her own hands, she clapped Dora's.

I was excited that all of the Christmas decorations were up- it was so festive.

Kate braved the giant roller coaster with Bruce- she was scared but went anyway. I was proud of her.

Vegas, Baby! (and our San Diego arrival)

After a mildly hellish drive to Las Vegas, George, Merrilee, the girls and I settled in our room. I hate Las Vegas. I admit that there's a lot of Vegas I haven't seen, but so far, Vegas is batting 0.00. At least our room was nice.

I guess my title was misleading since that's pretty much all I have to say about Vegas.

On to San Diego... This is the view from the room that Kiki described to hotel staff as "yucky." It was, in fact, extremely nice.

We met up with Jimmy, Tiffany, and Mark.

Did a little swimming.



We went to Coronado Island for a tasty dinner and a little shopping.

Vacation: So far, so good.