adventuring on the fourth.

austin's family came to visit for the fourth of july weekend, and its never a hatch family vacation without a load of adventures packed in there. to start we drove up to north georgia in the blue ridge mountains and went white water rafting down the chattooga river. it was a rainy downpour day, which made for a high water level and awesome rapids. at one point we hit a  good size rapid and sitting in the front austin almost fell out, but luckily i caught him in time (he may or may not have a different account of the event). we rafted for a good portion of the day, and by the end were wiped out and headed back to a cute little mountain inn we were staying at. with a little bit better weather the next day, we went mountain biking, following beautiful scenic routes along the blue ridge mountains. the trail proved to be a little bit more difficult than expected and seemed to be mainly uphill, and after 4 miles part of our group decided to turn around. if anyone knows my biking skills, this would have been the best option for me, however after some pushing and pleading, austin convinced me that it would we well worth it to continue along the journey since it was only 4 more miles until the end for a total of 8 miles. well...mile 8 came and went, and then 9, and 10...and the trail was soon turning into the never ending story. with much coaching and encouragement from austin and my awesome mother-in-law, i survived to the end of the actual 13 mile trail (apparently the park rangers need to seriously update the map), with a beautiful waterfall destination. after recovering from the biking adventure, we visited the awe-inspiring tallulah falls where we got to hike and climb through the 1,000 foot gorge. the only unfortunate part of the whole trip was we were having too much fun to stop and take pictures but we did get one after our biking feat

and if these adventures weren't enough, we met back up in destin, florida the following week for a beach front weekend filled with snorkeling and sand-dollar diving on the sandy white beaches. again, too much fun for pictures, but we'll always have our memories of some serious fun adventures- thanks hatchs, we had a blast!

tanks.

austin's unit had a family day in the field where we got to go out and see our guys in action and have some fun exploring the vehicles ourselves!

driver's seat!

inside the tank!

tank joystick...just like a video game

50 cal!

it was a super fun day and a great opportunity to see what austin is doing during those long weeks away in the field, and with the summer georgia heat it made me grateful for passing my time in the pool and our air conditioned apartment. 

blessings.

congratulations to mr & mrs eric severson!

upon walking off the cruise ship in florida, i flew out of orlando to go watch my amazing sister cassandra get married to her best friend eric in the los angeles temple. it was a beautiful ceremony and such a blessing to be apart of it with my family (sadly austin could not attend because of military training...wahh wahh). they were sealed in the same room my family was sealed in 15 years ago, which was a wonderful reminder of the blessings of an eternal family. i couldn't be happier for my sister, who has always been my biggest competitor, critic, confidant, and supporter in all that i do (those who know us well, know how true this statement is) always making me a better person along the way. and eric is seriously so awesome, they make a great couple--disclosure: i consistently badgered her long before they started dating, when they were *just friends* that she totally needed to go on at least a date with him because he was so awesome and fun, but she was continually adamant that it wasn't like that, they were just friends... well...well 1 year later and they are married! 

i had to post this picture as well because i just can't believe how much my sisters and i look alike. this picture is with ahkong, our dad's father; our late ahboo (grandmother) passed away a year ago, but we knew she was there all day with us in spirit.

while at home i also got to celebrate my brother jt going on a mission. he will be serving as a missionary for the church of jesus christ of latter day saints for 2 years in the san pablo, philippines mission, speaking tagalog. we are so excited for him to serve in the philippines, and feel extra blessed for his calling to serve the filipino people as our dad was born and raised there. we are so excited for jt to go and serve, and know he will be the best missionary. jt has always been the jokester in our family, with a sensitive, kind, and loving attitude toward everyone; we know his big heart will touch and bless the lives of many in the philippines. if you want to know more about his mission feel free to click on the church link or follow my brother's blog.

 as a last hoorah before jt left we went to disneyland and disney's california adventure parks. i hate roller coasters, but in support of him i went on the california screaming ride. note: his face is a joke, mine is real.

fortune cookie.

after four months of eight-hour days of learning mandarin chinese, austin completed the course with an official certificate, and we were able to measure his language skills by successfully ordering at a chinese restaurant.

and now that the chinese course is over, austin now begins his Armor Basic Officer Leadership Course (A-BOLC). this is the main purpose for our moving to georgia, and austin is definitely excited to get out of the classroom and out into the field, because who wouldn't when this is your job...

inside a TANK!

bahama mama.

husband of the year award goes to austin for a surprise anniversary cruise to the bahamas. after setting up a scavenger hunt around our apartment, which was pretty comical in a 2 bedroom 1100 sq. foot place, i was surprised with a purchased reservation on the computer. since we were apart last year for our 1 year anniversary, in chile and haiti, austin wanted to go big in celebration festivities this year. 

first stop- freeport. where we soaked up the sun on the junkanoo beach and sipped coconuts.

this was my reaction to a beach vendor, trying to sell us conch shell salad

yeah...didn't look or sound too good

we also rented a jet ski and hit some high speeds on the waves

driver austin was very good and did not flip us. 

we had so much fun i don't think we ever stopped laughing the whole ride. 

next port: nassau. it was cloudy and rainy when we first got to nassau so we hit the town in the morning. 

and while wandering the streets we happen to come upon a pirate museum. 

and we knew, we just had to go inside. 

so. totally. awesome.

 it was like walking through the pirates of the caribbean ride. 

austin had a little bit of fun with the reenactment figures 

the museum was actually pretty historic and we surprisingly learned some interesting facts about pirates. 

fun fact: pirates wore eye patches to help their eyes adjust from going on the top deck to lower parts of the ship which were dark and without windows- they wore an eye patch so they'd always have one eye that would easily adjust to the new environment! brilliant! 

this exhibit was showing a real wooden peg leg- as austin is demonstrating in the picture

after the museum, the weather started to clear up so we grabbed some ice cream and headed to the beach

the beach was amazing, the water was a clear turquoise blue and we loved playing in the waves

we eventually had to sneak on to the atlantis resort for some food. the atlantis resort was sooo cool with acres of water slides and this cool shark tank. but it was wayyyyy too over priced for just a few hours visit on the water slides. apparently they don't allow outside paying customers, and security was tight, no joke, but i needed food and was facing some serious hangry problems and we eventually found a path through. 

last stop: half-moon cay. pronounced kay or key, no one really knows. but this place was amazing! it is a private island the cruiseline owns and it was so so beautiful. paradise, right here in real life.

in the morning we rented a kayak and went paddling on the ocean.

trying to stand up on a kayak with ocean waves, prob not the best idea and wayyy harder than one would think, but it makes for a fun time filled with laughs

 

eventually we were successful

the water was so clear we could actually see the fish swimming below us in the water. 

A-MAZ-ING

then in the afternoon we did a super cool excursion to end our cruise on a high note. 

first came the snorkeling...

then came the sting rays...

okay people, these things were huge and still had their stingers on. it was hard not to be terrified, especially when thinking these things killed the crocodile hunter. but after a while you warm up to them and get use to them brushing up against your legs and around your stomachs...okay still pretty freaky the whole time but it was so way cool. and we even got to feed them! yes-those are dead squids in our hands.

(note the poor terrified girl next to austin)

can't even contain my excitement here!

we also got to hold the world's biggest starfish.

okay probably not the world's biggest, but it was pretty dang big!

 

snorkel buddies!

while on the cruise we celebrated our 2 year anniversary. my parents were so thoughtful and purchased some surprise chocolate covered strawberries (my favorite) that were delivered to us. our friends that we went cruising with also mentioned our anniversary to the staff which then led to celebration signing over dinner, and was hilariously eventful, as you can tell from our faces here.

happy anniversary aust! 

you continue to make all my dreams come true

and spoil me way too much.

please don't ever stop. 

wild birthdays.

birthday week. our birthdays are only a few days apart so naturally we have to celebrate all week--which usually turns into all month long--of fun festivities. this year i 'surprised' austin (he totally figured it out) with going to the wild animal safari park. this little gem is hidden in the georgia country-side and allows you to drive through the park of wild, exotic roaming animals and feed them.  nothing could have prepared us for how much fun we would have.

me and my llama friend! 

check out the TEETH on this buddy

 there were tons of buffalo who liked to come right up to the car and get a treat. and these buffalo were massive, sometimes as big as our car and drooled like crazy. it was pretty sick. and austin of course liked to surprise me by rolling down my window when i wasn't looking, and letting the buffalo stick its head in, searching for my snack bag.  

seriously, check out how big this guy's head is!

lonnnnnggghorn!

 you weren't supposed to get out of the car...but i just had to touch the rhino! 

oh little deer, if you only knew austin would just love to hunt you...

needless to say, we had an awesome time! 

but the fun didn't stop there...

when we got home austin surprised me with a birthday bike!

it's a beauty! it's white and turquoise and i couldn't love it more!

 and then, as part of birthday tradition, i made austin a surprise cake! this year's theme: a tank! 

birthday week success!

it just gets better every year!