Holiday Joy - Christmas, Valentines and March Madness...

Westin and I have enjoyed many holidays since Christmas with both family and friends. We went up to the city, traveled to Utah, and have enjoyed our time here in Palo Alto as well. Two new additions have come to the Hatch and Hamilton family since I last posted, enjoy the pictures and videos of the little ones, as they are much more interesting than either Westin or I.

Max came to visit before Christmas and we saw the Nutcracker in SF!

Lauren Noel Sellers, (my sister Jenna's 2nd) born December 22nd, 2010 in Provo UT!!

Clara Susan Hadley, (Westin's sister Elise's 3rd),  born December 27th, 2010 in Albuquerque NM!!

Westin and I met in Utah for one weekend when he was working in Minnesota to see little Lauren and play with Addison!  It was really quick, but we tried to make the most of our time in helping Jenna around the house, visiting with friends from BYU and soaking up as much as we could of Addi and Lauren.

Westin and I couldn't help ourselves, we bought Addi a duplo set!

She couldn't get enough of it!

Making the most of my time with Lauren

Rachel G., Rachel H., and Natalie at the BYU Creamery

Lauren Noel

Yay! I put a lego together!

Addison kept repeating again and again, "baby!"

All the girls at Grandmas!!

At Christmas time it is typical to receive your favorite goodies and treats from family and friends. I look forward to this every year: The Pearson's chocolate chip cookies, The Ord's stollen, The Taylor's jam, The Brand's fudge, of course my mother's popcorn balls and many other treats!

Unfortunately by the time I get all of these, I get a stomach ache and can't enjoy them as much as I expected too. One of Westin's favorite holiday treats is fudge, so I decided why not make fudge at Valentine's and send it to my family in Utah, New Mexico, Houston, L.A. and here in Palo Alto? So, I gave it a try and it was much more than I bargained for!!

Word to the wise, NEVER USE MARGARINE WHEN MAKING FUDGE!! I ended up with hot fudge sauce, so the next night I tried again with butter and was able to successfully make my first batch of fudge. The fudge traveled to many places and made it, slightly softened but after some time in the fridge firmed right back up.

Attempt #1

The fudge gone wrong

Attempt #2, success!

For Valentine's my mom made a delicious meal, with lots of love!

Westin and I took care of our friend's Liz and Joe Niccum's kids, Nate and Ruby, for a weekend in February. Sunday morning was spent watching Shaun the Sheep and eating Cheerios!

Ruby has matching pajamas with my nice Addi! (Look at my last pic from Utah)

 Nate taught Westin how to play Angry Birds on Liz's ipad.

Westin hard at work with his culinary skills!

After Brandon Davies was removed from the BYU basketball team, I coped by making cinnamon rolls. It was only a temporary fix.

 

Addi has taken a liking to dancing, enjoy!

Even though BYU lost in the Sweet 16, they overcame several trials and surprised several skeptics. My mom, dad, Westin, Carson, and Anne watched every game from January until the sweet 16, it was quite an experience! I am really happy that Jimmer won player of the year, despite several skeptics yet again, he averaged 27 points throughout the season and displayed a remarkable amount of selflessness and leadership. Go COUGS!

Westin and I are in the midst of planning several trips for the upcoming summer: Celebrating our one-year anniversary in Hawaii, camping in Yosemite, Big Basin, and other California spots, meeting up with Max (Westin's sister) at Hearst Castle, College Tennis Championship at Stanford, Bank of the West Tennis Tournament at Stanford, Giants games, beach trips and more! We will try better to update more often! Until then, enjoy the spring weather!