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• Leaving on a jet plane…

  19Jan
  Categories: Family Comments: 1

  …don’t know when I’ll be back again… We thought we would be home right about now, but when we arrived at the Del Rio International Airport at 5:15 this morning we were informed that the first of two flights that leaves the airport was canceled due to the fact that last night’s incoming flight (one of two) did not make it as a result of heavy fog. In other words, there is one plane that flies out of Del Rio at 6:15am to Houston, returns around 3:30pm, flies back to Houston at 4:30pm, and returns to rest for the night at 11:00pm. So, we are taking it easy and making the most of our extra hours–John is trying to break his Wii wakeboarding record, we got a little extra sleep, finished watching “Up,” and are just hanging out. Hoping the fog has lifted enough to make the afternoon flight a go.

  The weekend has been full of fun–a Hatch family gathering, reuniting us at the temporary home of Erin’s sister and her family, in Del Rio, a border-town in southwest Texas. It’s been good to be together. We have enjoyed catching up; playing games (freeze tag, golf, boom-chicka-boom, Chutes-n-Ladders); playing with Katie & CJ’s Chespeake Retriever, Boone; competing in Wii tourmaments; cruising and wakeboarding in the Amistad Reservoir; meeting and bbq-ing with Katie & CJ’s friends; and laughing a lot.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

• What a Decade!

  03Jan
  Categories: Family, Thoughts Comments: 2

  Our past 10 years in review:

  1. Graduated from George Fox University 2000
  2. Erin finished Master’s Degree from Ithaca College 2001
  3. Erin worked at Indiana State University in 1 year internship 2001-2002
  4. John started working at Nike 2001
  5. Erin took job at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX 2002
  6. Started dating  2002
  7. Erin moved to Oregon and took job at Portland Community College 2003
  8. John gets new job with Nike GPS 2003
  9. Started the weekly tradition of “Family Night” 2004
  10. Got engaged and then married 2004
  11. Bought a house 2004
  12. Erin took a job at George Fox University 2005
  13. Grandpa Roy passed away 2005
  14. Erin started working on a book with colleagues from grad school 2005
  15. John ran the Honolulu Marathon 2005
  16. Grandpa Williams passed away 2006
  17. Traveled to Costa Rica 2007
  18. Decided to travel around the world 2007
  19. Erin continued writing the book 2008
  20. Quit our jobs and left the country 2008
  21. Erin published “Golfing With Your Eyes Closed” 2009
  22. Returned home from travel 2009
  23. Blessed with jobs at George Fox University (Erin) and Nike (John) 2009
  24. Started a business (more on this soon!)

  Of course there’s tons of other things that fall in the gaps of each of these big items and should make the list, namely our families who have given us uber cool spouses, awesome nieces and nephews, and so many memories (Lins, John W., CJ, Dusty, Bailey, Marissa, Cassidy, Kylan, Addison, Paul) AND the amazing friends who have journeyed with us in that time–both those we still see regularly and those who we were with only for a season.

  There are really so many more important and significant life events that have happened over the past 10 years. These have been years that have formed who will be forevermore–these are years that have truly shaped our beliefs, our friendships, our worldview, our traditions, our family habits, our relationship with each other, our passions, our careers, our lifestyle, and our goals and vision for our future. Pretty cool, hey?

  Tags: 2010, decade, Family, review

• Fresh Eyes

  03Jan
  Categories: Family, Just Having Fun, Thoughts Comments: 1

  In some ways this holiday season felt like we were seeing old things with new eyes. Traditions we had taken for granted in the past were exciting again: freshly squeezed OJ Christmas morning, Christmas Eve service and the post-service Shari’s dining experience, stocking exchanges, our own gift exchange and “Christmas” a day or two after, lazing around with family in person rather than via Skype. It was good to celebrate together. We were especially lucky to have family from Philly visiting and sharing their holiday time-off with us.

  The celebrating continued with New Year’s Eve–another tradition that was seen through fresh eyes. We hosted friends for a fun evening which included ping-pong, BINGO, a white elephant exchange, clanging and banging pots and pans, a midnight run, and a table full of delicious food and drinks. Again, it was good to be together.

  It’s been great to have a new perspective on the usual things of the holidays and we hope to find ways to see this season with fresh eyes each year.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  It ain't a party until someone's wearing a lampshade, right?

  

  

  

  The guys gather around to find out where the child stars are today from Pete's People magazine

  

  Midnight run... short shorts, gold leggings, and rain... great combo

• Kickin’ Off Christmas

  14Dec
  Categories: Family, Just Having Fun Comments: 2

  Although the tree has been up for a couple of weeks and the house has been decorated and we have already watched Christmas Vacation–all sure signs of Christmas–we took the Christmas celebration to the next level the past few days. Beginning Friday night with a sing-a-long to White Christmas; carrying into Saturday with a family holiday breakfast at The Allison, seeing 300 tuba-ists play carols in Pioneer Courthouse Square, checking out the chocolate/marzipan/gingerbread building at The Benson and the memorabilia of the old Meier & Frank Santaland; and wrapping up with a beautiful service at Newberg Friends Church Sunday night.

  

  

  

  

  

  

• Seriously?

  11Sep
  Categories: Family, Home, Just Having Fun Comments: 2

  Yes, seriously. This family IS THAT CUTE! Our nieces and nephews (ages 12, 10, 9, 6 & 4), along with their folks, came for a visit from the Denver area this past weekend and we could hardly get enough of them. It’s been a year since we last saw them and man, how kids grow. In the past year they have done a lot of cool things including adding to their family two new kids –Addison and Paul–whose adoption was finalized a little less than two months ago. The Parents gave them the gift of a family photo session which we were so thrilled to do and we had a fantastic two hours of hanging out, laughing, smiling big, and having such a fun time. We also got to spend time at the beach on Monday and we just happened to hit the beach during a gorgeous stretch of blue sky and sun. Can’t wait until the next time we get to hang out.

  

  Showing a little "my soul" muscle

  

  Thanks for this shot, Sherry!

  

  Paul Toshe

  

  Addison Serkalem

• Too Big To Miss

  06Sep
  Categories: Family, Just Having Fun Comments: 6

  “Too Big To Miss” is the annual tagline of the Oregon State Fair, but this year it was also a label that could have been applied to the group we faired with–all of us sporting bright golden-yellow t-shirts with our own tagline, “the family that fairs together, stays together.” (As quoted by Molly Filosi; t-shirt design and printing by Rachel Morell.) The fifteen of piled into cars and made our way to the Oregon State Fairgrounds in Salem for a day packed with thing things you do at a fair: the eating of greasy, overpriced food; the viewing of farm animals; the watching of people; the oohing and aahing over beautiful photography; the bargaining for as-seen-on-TV items in the commercial area (“but wait…”); and the doubled-over laughing at the Travis Fox hypnotist show, among other things.

  Going to the fair is a Macy tradition dating back to the time John was about 10 years old. The Williams grandparents took him and his siblings to the fair and the tradition has continued–twenty two years later we are still going! (Too big to miss, I tell you!) Because the annual affair began with the Williams’ we are always pleased when Grandma Edna wants to come along–at 90 years old she still wants to spend an entire day walking around the fair with a bunch of “kids” and we are so glad for it. She was a trooper once again, even providing her famous rice krispy treats with peanut butter and willingly sporting the t-shirt.

  If you have never been to a state fair or a fair of any sort, it is surely an experience not too miss–well, it’s at least a once in a lifetime must-do. Garrison Keilor, of  A Prairie Home Companion, describes it beautifully in a National Geographic article. Somehow the fair experience is relatively consistent from state to state, perhaps taken more seriously in some places than others, but still with a similar rhythm, similar oddities, and similar food. Maybe we’ll see you next year?

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

• We Heart Portland

  09Aug
  Categories: Family, Just Having Fun Comments: 4

  Yes, we are biased, but Portland really is one of the greatest cities around (#7 in the country according to Outside magazine this month). We missed this city in our time away, but began to make up for lost time this weekend as we had two events downtown. The first being our friend, Martha’s, 30th birthday celebration which included bocce  at the North Park Blocks, sandwiches as big as your head at Kenny & Zuke’s, an americano at Stumptown Coffee, photos at the Ace Hotel photo booth, and hazelnut gelato at Mio Gelato. All of which we would highly recommend. Great birthday fun!

  

  

  

  

  The second event of the weekend was the 2009 Providence Bridge Pedal which gave us the opportunity to ride across seven of Portland’s 12 bridges (Hawthorne, Ross Island, Marquam, Burnside, Broadway, Fremont, and St. John’s). Favorites included the Marquam (riding on the interstate was a rush!), the Fremont, and the Hawthorne. We also enjoyed cruising a brief section of I-405 and getting up to speeds between 30-36 mph down N Willamette Ave. The 24 mile ride gave us a fun look at Portland neighborhoods we’d never seen and a beautiful view of the city as we crossed each bridge.

  

  

  

  

  

• More Beach, Please

  09Aug
  Categories: Family, Photography Comments: 1

  We couldn’t resist sharing more photos from our beach time last week. The four day holiday was spent with family doing some of the things we do best–hanging out, eating good food, taking photographs of each other, and playing on the beach. Of course, most of the time our eyes and our cameras were focused on Oscar, our precious nephew, to whom we did not at all mind giving our attention. It was a fun and relaxing time and we look forward to the next time!

  

  

  

  

  

  

• Retirement

  19Jul
  Categories: Family, Home, Just Having Fun Comments: 0

  After a 30 year career serving the United States in military service, Erin’s dad, Colonel Ed Hatch, retired this week. The two of us, along with many other family members and friends met up in Virginia to celebrate his accomplishment. Erin’s parents put a considerable amount of time and thought into the retirement ceremony, a pre-ceremony dinner, and a week at the beach with family–it rivaled any well-planned wedding. It was a fabulous time of hanging out and playing as well as hearing about the significant difference one person can make in an organization the size of the United States military and the role he has played in so many individual lives. We felt very proud to have him as our Dad!

  The time at the beach was a definite highlight of the week. We got to spend time with Erin’s sisters, brother-in-law, niece, cousins, aunt, grandmother, and others body boarding, hanging out on the beach, playing games, eating lots of good food, taking pictures of adorable children, and just being together.

  Here are a few shots from the week:

  

  The Whole Gang

  

  Retired Colonel Hatch (on right) with former boss, Major General Allardice

  

  Sister Katie, with niece, Kylan, who is showing us her age

  

  Elli-Grace, daughter of cousins, Jason & Anna Claire