black and white

My mom is so good to us. Any time she sees a beautiful dress, she has to buy it...then make sure it has a matching one for each granddaughter. 

She has a great eye when it comes to fashion. Grandma Udall loves to make sure her grand-babies are dressed to the "9's." 

While growing up my mom made me and all my sisters match...every Sunday. 

There was NO escaping it. I hated it. I swore I would NEVER make my kids match. 

Then I became a mommy. 

I LOVE to see them all coordinating. 

I love joining in on the fun. 

I am now eating my hat.

Thank you Mom, I love it!

{extracurricular}

I am a ballet teacher...correction...I am THE ballet teacher. I have a small studio behind my house and I teach my girls, along with their friends.

Living in a small community, we have limited resources. We rely on each others' talents and volunteer efforts for our kids' extracurricular activities.

My good friend is a concert pianist, so she is our piano teacher,

another friend is a gymnast, so she is our cheer coach/tumbling instructor,

our husbands are the football and basketball coaches,

my neighbor is the tennis coach,

my mother-in-law is the "after school tutor",

our Aunt is the town seamstress. 

The list could go on and on...

We all contribute, in a small town, to develop the talents of our children and help them become well-rounded.

It is just a small part of the role we play living here!

secrets

Shhh...

I've been keeping this a secret for over a year now.

I think it is time to record this experience.

Last January my sister was getting married. She had rented and decorated a darling town home for her and her new husband. She graciously let me and my family stay in it before the wedding.

We were all very careful to put everything back that we touched and we tried not to mess anything up.

Until...

Sunday morning!

I was bathing kids and laying out church clothes...typical Sunday morning stuff...

I finally had all the kids clean and lined up for hair. Benton ran past me while I was styling hair and I noticed that he had a poopie diaper. I made a mental note that he needed to be changed soon.

Before I knew it Benton had taken off his diaper and was  SITTING in the middle of my sister's BRAND NEW bed...on top of her sparkling WHITE comforter!

I screamed...

There was poop all over her bed and we had to be at church in 30 minutes.

I panicked.

I threw Benton into the bath and ripped the comforter off the bed. I ran to her (upstairs) laundry room where she had a very compact washer and dryer and I thought I'd try my luck.

I jammed the California King sized comforter into the washing machine, poured in some soap and walked away.

Before long Tori came running upstairs yelling, "it raining down stairs!" 

I couldn't make sense of what she could possibly be thinking, so I went to check it out. 

Sure enough, there was water coming out of the light fixtures and dripping onto her NEW, wooden kitchen table and onto the floor!!

I ran back upstairs to find the washing machine OVERFLOWING!

I was dying!

I hurried and pulled the comforter out of the machine and hung it over her shower,

then I ran downstairs to mop up the water... hoping water rings wouldn't stain the ceiling.

Then we ran out the door, we were late for church.

On the way to the chapel we swore all of our children to secrecy. We couldn't let anyone find out what horrible house guests we had been.

The instant we sat down at church, Tori turned to Grandma and told her that it was raining in Aunt Rachel's kitchen. 

We were BUSTED!

I told my mom the whole story and we promised to keep this from Rachel. After church we all sat down to Sunday dinner when Mom got a phone call...

Rachel was on her way home...to HER home!

I still had her comforter strung out all over the bathroom and her bed was in shambles! Garrett and I dropped our forks and raced to her house to clean up before she arrived.

We made it in the nick of time! 

To this day, I don't know if she realizes how her new bedding was "broken in".

Well....SHE knows NOW!

Love you Rach!

crime

Mexico is known for it's lawlessness, crime and violence. We are the center of CNN a lot of the time. In my neck of the woods we have survived kidnappings, shootings, and corruption.

There was a time when we would lock our doors and windows, afraid to go outside. We wouldn't let our kids ride their bikes in the streets. We lived in fear. We couldn't keep a routine for fear that someone was following us. We threatened to move to the states and leave everything behind. 

Two members of our ward were kidnapped and held for ransom. Two children that attend our private high school were kidnapped. All were returned safely and unharmed.  We would hear news of bodies being dumped on the sides of the road (our roads). Severed heads being delivered to officials. Shootings down town where we would grocery shop, where our husbands have offices.

There was a very ugly time. Two major cartels were fighting for territory. Lots of people died. Some got caught in the cross-fire. Opportunist took advantage of us that were afraid. Kidnapping was turned into a lucrative business.

But through all of that, I believe that God never left our side. 

in the scriptures it says...

"Those who live by the sword...die by the sword..."

We had the strength of our church leaders. We were blessed to have an Apostolic blessing. We were promised that...

if we do what is right we will be protected.

Specifically, if we continue to

read the scriptures daily

keep commandments

attend the temple frequently

the Lord would protect us.

And...

HE did. 

We no longer live in fear. 

The stories that you hear on the news (in the states) are usually blown out of proportion...the details can be exaggerated. You will not be shot down for visiting Mexico. Men don't walk the streets carrying AK47s. There are no riots. Innocent people are not the targets for violence.

We truly live in a peaceful little valley...tucked away from most. And as long as we are doing what's right we will be protected. We will continue to stand in Holy places....we need not fear.

My story

I am Canadian/American...now Mexican.

I was born in Canada and lived there off and on for 10 years. In that 10 years I lived in Utah while my parents graduated from BYU. Then we lived in Michigan for 2 years while my dad attended Law School. 

I attended a French Immersion School, K through 3rd grade. Then we moved to Arizona.

I lived in Arizona for 5 years playing tennis, and dancing while my parents built their dream home. A year after we lived in the Dream Home my parents divorced due to infidelity. 

My mom and me and my 5 siblings moved to Utah. I lived there until I graduated high school. I then attended BYU-I while majoring in Dance. 

I was engaged to be married...it didn't work out...so I moved to Utah.

I transferred to UVU where I got engaged again...that one didn't pan out either...

graduated in Dance...

and met my eternal companion. 

A year after meeting Garrett we married in the Salt Lake City Temple (where my parents were married).

We lived in Utah for one year...I gave birth to our first daughter...

then

we moved to Arizona for 4 months.

We then kept heading South...we moved across the border...to Mexico to house/farm-sit for an uncle who took his wife on a mission for the LDS church.

After a year they came home and we decided to stay for good.

Since that decision was made I've had 3 other children and we've lived in 3 different houses. 

We are now in our permanent home and raising our family.

I never thought this little Canadian Girl would fall in love with a "Mexican" and live in Mexico.

I was a city girl in all aspects and now I am a farmer's wife and I love it!

PS- My husband isn't Hispanic. Just look at our kids. They have the fairest skin EVER.

Drug Bust

The other day the AMERICAN border was closed in Columbus, NM. Some members of our ward were trying to get out to the states and couldn't cross the border.

This can be disheartening when you are considered "stuck" in Mexico. 

Well, come to find out...there was a huge drug bust on the STATES side! They had arrested the Chief of Police...the Mayer...his wife...and others

therefore, they had to close the border so these high profile law breakers couldn't escape.

We live about 3 hours from the border. 

In our small town we have our own, volunteer, police officers.  They hold the authority to arrest and carry a gun. They help keep the peace in our community. 

Lucky for us, they are all members of our ward. Two of them happen to live down the street from us. I can rest assured knowing that OUR police force in Col. Juarez is NOT corrupt.

Die like dogs...

My kids LOVE the Three Amigos. They have worn out our DVD and now it is recorded on our DVR so they watch it constantly.

This morning at the breakfast table, Benton asked, "are we going to die like dogs?"

That is the line that Lucky Day whispers to El Guapo to repeat back to the 3 Amigos when they first meet in the little town of Santa Poco. 

I had to laugh. 

Now, Benton repeats his favorite quote all day long. Cant' wait until Grandma Hatch hears this one.

I washed Benton's favorite tennis shoes. They look like new, now. He was so excited to put them on, even though it was dinner time and we weren't going anywhere.

Once I got his shoes and socks on, he jumped down from my lap and said, "let's see if I can run FAST now!" He then dashed across the kitchen as fast as he could and said, "YUP! Real fast!"

I guess the cleaner the shoe...the faster you can run!