Fourth of July

We celebrated the Fourth of July twice this year. Neither time on the 4th. We were in Morgan with Michelle's family on the 3rd. Her whole family was together, which hasn't happened very often. We BBQ'd in the backyard and then went to the Morgan fireworks show at the high school once it got dark. I don't have any pictures of our Morgan 4th.

On Sunday the 4th we drove to Richfield to meet up with my dad, my two brothers and their families. On Monday the 5th we went to the Richfield parade. We had our traditional spot in front of the firehouse. There is really only once good reason to go to the parade. It is to watch the kids (I include myself in this statement) scramble to collect the salt water taffy that is thrown from the floats. Here are the kids with their goodie bags.

We always take a "self-guided tour" of the Richfield Fire Department and take pictures in and on all of the trucks. We feel that we belong there, even though some may look at us and wonder who we are.

After the parade we went to the park to participate in all the activities there. They have several food booths, all kinds of vendors (mostly selling junk), blow-up slides and bounce houses, races for the kids and the fish grab. The fish grab has changed since when I was a kid. Now they build three small tanks. The kids all line up on the edge of the tank corresponding to their age group.

The hatchery truck pulls up and loads the tanks with fish. This process always seems to take longer than it should.

They let the fish swim around for a little while...

... and then they let the kids loose. It is total chaos. Rebecca and Tyler were both in the same age group. Here you can see both of them trying their hardest to get a fish.

Rebecca figured out that if she sat near the edge with her hands in the water and waited for a fish to swim over the top of her hands that she could toss it out of the tank. The first one that she did this way was taken by a boy before she could get out of the tank to claim it. This is the second one she got this way.

She wasn't quite sure what to do with it. She walked around holding it and showing it to the family for a few minutes. Tyler wasn't ever able to catch one, so here he is holding Rebecca's. Notice that she wasn't going to let go of it even if it was just her little brother holding it. It was her fish.

After Tyler held it, Rebecca decided that she would put it back in the water to let someone else have a turn. Being Rebecca, she later told me that she felt good that she was able to have the experience of catching the fish and then letting someone else have the same opportunity.

Hiking in Morgan

While we were in UT we took the kids on a couple of hikes. The first hike we did was to the M on the hill behind Grandma and Gandpa's house. It isn't a very long hike, but it is steep. Of the 10 who started up the hill, there were only 5 who made it all the way up. Michelle, Meagan and Justin didn't make it past the first steep stretch.

We must be in UT.

Two weeks later we went to SnowBasin Ski Resort. We went thinking that we would ride the gondola to the top and do a little hike on the top of the mountain. When we got to the base it was 68 degrees and we were all a little chilly. I asked the girl at the ticket counter what the temperature difference would be on the top and she said it would be 8 - 10 degrees colder and windy up there. We decided that we weren't prepared for the cold. We did a little loop hike around the bottom of the ski runs. It was nice to hike amongst all the vegetation.

110 Volts

Today at work I got quite a shock. I was working in a lab and needed to use a power supply for some of the testing that I was doing. It was sitting on a workbench with its side facing out. I needed to have easier access to the front panel, so I grabbed two opposite corners to pick it up and rotate it. Little did I know that the power cord was attached to bare bolts on the back corner. I touched one of the terminals with my left middle finger. Current always finds the shortest path to ground. Usually when someone touches 110 Volts, it goes in one finger and out the another finger in the same hand. You get a little tingling sensation and you think to yourself that you don't want to do that again. Well, today, the shortest path to ground was through my right hand, holding the opposite corner. So, I had the current go up my left arm, across my chest, down my right arm and out through my hand. That is the situation that you don't want to have happen. It crosses the heart and can to bad things to your natural rhythm, including stopping it. I quickly dropped it back onto the workbench and paused to take a couple of breaths. It was a really weird sensation that I hadn't ever had before. I felt like my heart was pounding as if I had just run for a good amount of time. A little later I felt like I was going to throw up. Then after about 10 minutes I felt back to normal. That really is something that I hope doesn't happen again.

After all of this, one of the other guys in the lab said, "Oh, I should have told you that that is one of those power supplies that are illegal to have on the plant site becasue the terminals are open on the back." That is information that would have been helpful to know before I picked it up.

Erin - Day Three

More Pictures. More sleeping. More diaper changes. More sleeping. And Brett cut Erin's finger nails.

Erin - Day Two

After a good night's sleep, we do what we have done in the past - we stare at the new kid . . .

while she sleeps.
Brett's comfy spot. Better than previous years! Getting Erin ready to go home.
Strapping her in her carseat.

Putting the carseat in the truck.

We are ready to go. What will we do when we get home?

Stare at the new kid while she sleeps.

We'll take turns holding her while she sleeps.

We'll take pictures while she sleeps. Everyone will get a turn! We'll change her clothes a hundred times while she sleeps.
We'll even get a little sleep ourselves.

First Visitors

Erin had her first visitors just hours after she was born. This is one of my favorite moments. The kids seem to come with their best behavior - calm, gentle, yet excited!

Grandma HatchGrandpa HatchOur First Family Picture

Special Delivery

You would think after 3 kids I would know what I was doing! However, this time around there were new experiences to be had. For one, my water broke at home - around 1 am. It was just a trickle so I was relieved when the triage nurse confirmed that it WAS my water. Since I wasn't having contractions they induced me. They started me on pitocin around 3 am. Around 5 am there was still no progress so they upped my pitocin to "convince" my body it was (or should be?) in labor. That was painful. Since I was working off only 1 and 1/2 hours of sleep, I asked for an epidural. I think it works for me. It allows my body to relax and do its thing. By 6 am I was at an 8 and feeling pressure. Not long after that the doctor was on his way and I was breathing through contractions doing my best NOT to push. That part always worries me. Will the doctor make it or will Brett be it?

Fortunately the doctor made it and so did Erin! When I was given the go ahead,

it was a couple of pushes, and she was here. At 6:50 am on her due date! She doesn't like to be bugged.

Our sweet meeting.

The proud papa!

Content and Cozy.Again we don't like to be bugged.Look how relaxed she looks for her first official clean up.

Was it worth being bugged for?Content and Cozy once again!She looks like an Anderson Baby.