on a steel horse i ride.

well we made it through a georgia summer, and austin made it through his armor-basic officer leadership course. with long in the heat and woods, i am so proud he made it through with high achievements and was recognized on the commadant's list. he never ceases to amaze me. however, austin was most proud of his stetson hat. yes, this beloved hat, which lives in a precious box and only comes out for special occasions, is his pride and joy. the stetson hat is a traditional symbol for cavalry units, who historically rode on horseback but now ride the steel horse of tanks, strikers, hum-vs. the graduation was short, the celebration sweet, and we enjoyed our time with great friends we have met here along the way.

found myself a real cowboy

inspiring story: a group of us went out to dinner later in the day to celebrate. all still dressed in our celebratory outfits, we enjoyed our time together reminiscing about the past and looking forward to the future. in the end, when we went to pay our individual checks, we were informed by our server that our entire party's bill had been paid in full, which had to amount to at least a couple hundred dollars. feeling greatly indebted, we asked for his table number or name, but the server said he had already gone and she pointed to his empty seat at the bar. we were tremendously disappointed that we could not thank this man for his overwhelming kindness, but i later found him in the left side of a random picture austin and i snapped during dinner. we were all greatly touched by this man's generosity, and someday i hope we can follow his example and pay his goodness forward .

labor day play.

labor day weekend my family came to visit georgia and we squeezed in as much fun and goodness columbus has to offer during their stay. 

first off, we explored fort benning, which included spotting some gators in the pond 

and getting up close and personal with the tanks. austin was able to get dill inside a tank! anyone that knows dill, knows that this was a dream come true for him. it was awesome to see his excitement! 

annnd we had to take my family to our favorite place in columbus, the animal safari! it was hilarious to watch each person's reaction to feeding the various animals...lots of screams and laughs..we had a blast!

we also spent an afternoon at flat rock park and explored rock waterfall slides. and it wouldn't be a sarmiento trip without some kind of clumsy event which took place as dill slipped, while climbing around the falls, and then slid several feet into kayla, who then also slipped, and the two continued sliding down the falls together. it was a comedy in the making. apart from a few wet bums, everyone was okay and we laughed about it the rest of the day.

we also got to celebrate dad's 50th birthday. the big five zero! with a cake for the diabetic man...

such a fun weekend! we loved having them visit and can't wait for their next trip!

life is like a box of chocolates.

while in georgia we want to get in as much southern hospitality as we can, so we decided to take a long-weekend trip to georgia's oldest town, savannah.

along the way, we first stopped at a real southern, georgia peach farm. it was something like a picture book, it was so surreal to drive through the beautiful and endless peach and pecan orchards.

i had to try out the john deere

best dang peach cobbler i have ever had! it was so good (and so hot out) the ice cream melted before it got to your mouth.

and of course out in the country we saw this along the way...which was only funny for like the .5 seconds it took to take the picture and then my LA self started in about how horrible the traffic was behind this guy. (i guess you can take a girl out of california but can never take california out of a girl...hey y'all, i'm just a different kind of southern...)

and then we finally made it to savannah, and i fell in love. i can't even begin to describe my amazement with the history and beauty of the town. every street was lined with overhanging trees and spanish moss. it was like being in a movie...

but seriously...they filmed forrest gump right here.

check it out:

our overall goal for the weekend was to try and do the best that savannah could offer. so naturally we started with the food. the first night we ate on the river at a seafood restaurant and tried shrimp and grits, a southern classic, and i now know why--delicious! our favorite by far was our second night, dining at the pirate house. a little history about savannah: it is the oldest town in georgia. being that, the oldest building in the oldest town is the pirate house, and yes, real pirates use to live and dine there! so of course, we had to try it out! and it was most definitely decorated theme appropriate.

and this my friends is a picture of the best piece of fried chicken on this great, green earth. another southern and georgia classic, pecan-crusted fried chicken. no words can express the goodness that was in every bite.

the second biggest highlight of our trip was a ghost-walking tour. because not only is savannah the oldest town in georgia, it is also 'the most haunted town in america'! so going on a ghost hunt was a given. sadly we did not see any roaming spirits during out night-time stroll, but we did learn some spooky and educational facts about savannah, such as: this use to be the hanging square of the town, and people use to hang in this tree here; or the sidewalk is sunken in where you are standing because there are graves below and the ground has given way. we found it fascinating! 

some other fun things we did over the weekend included going to fort pulaski, a civil war monument where the south fell to the north and we got to watch 19th century cannons fire; visiting every candy shop in town; making a stop to the paula deen store and getting a 'hey y'all' sign souvenir; and i certainly could not leave out a trip to the juliette gordon low house.

proud girl scout!

savannah, georgia checked off our bucket list! with all the southern charm and hospitality, we will definitely be back soon!

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.