Matt's new logo!

Here it is - we probably should have put it to a vote, put apparently it wasn't quite as important as the SLAM logo.

Here it is:

Up yours Sonic!!

Remember the story about Brigham Young and the steeple of the St. George Temple? Well, in a related story (again here in St. George) the Sonic on Bluff Street closed their doors and went out of business after a short 7 year tenor. Now, the rest of the story: In 2003 Mark and Sheila Hadley ventured into the restaurant business and opened up The Burger Bar in Santa Clara on the corner of Lava Flow Drive and Santa Clara Blvd. There was much to be said of this new 50's style restaurant coming to the community after a much respected 50+ year reign 340 miles north in the city of Roy, Utah.

The excitement attracted many familiar patrons who had been anxiously awaiting the grand opening, as well as the curious newcomer in search of good fresh American themed cuisine. One such newcomer dressed in the usual employee uniform (whose name will remain anonymous) was none other than the manager/part owner of the competing Sonic just a short distance away on Bluff Street. His visit may have seemed innocent to the non-suspecting bystander, however, this was not the case - he was there on a mission.

The man approached the counter and asked if he could speak to the manager. The owner, Mark Hadley came to the window and listened as the man bluntly said, "This place won't last three weeks. I'm glad to see that our so-called competition is no competition at all." Mark was a very loving man who at times had a very short fuse. His response was very quick and to the point, "Thank you very much. How 'bout this: UP YOURS!!"

From that day forward, each and every time Mark drove past the aforementioned Sonic, he would repeat the last part of his original response to the gentleman by stating, "Up yours Sonic."

Mark Hadley passed away in January of this year, a few months after his passing, Sonic closed their doors. And now you know the rest of the story.

My Dad

My dad's death brought so many mixed feelings, most of them good. This is the hardest, most challenging thing I have ever had to do. But for some reason that I can't explain, life is good. My outlook on my life has changed significantly and I have had more energy to take care of things and a greater sense of urgency to get life's most important matters in order.

I look at my relationships with my wife and the boys through different eyes. I simply want the best for them, and want it more than ever. I want them to always know that I love them and that I would be anywhere and do anything for them anytime.


I have always thought that Porter has so many physical traits that my Dad had, especially the brown eyes and that he is a lefty. I am so grateful for that little curly haired 2-year old reminder that I get to be with everyday. I just hope and pray that he, Bronzen and Seth will all gain Dad's spiritual traits.

I have become closer to Quinn - we had some very sacred and meaningful things happen these past few weeks that have brought us closer together. I realize that he will (and already has started to) be able to fill part of the void. He is who I will go to now for advice or a blessing or just to go and get a coke with. I am glad that we live so close to each other, but more importantly that we both live so close to Mom.

I also look at my relationship with the Lord a little differently. I have a stronger desire to serve and love him. Dad told me that if I'd lose myself in the Lord's work, that all aspects of my life would be in order. I want to have the passion for the scriptures that my dad had.

Dad was and is one of the elect of God. He had all of the important things in perfect order. Those things are: His relationship with Heavenly Father and the Savior; his relationship with mom; his relationship with us kids, our spouses, and his grandkids; his quiet, humble service in church callings; His relationship with his fellowmen; and his confidence in himself.

He used to pride himself on being able to: Out hit, out talk, out drive, out throw, out shoot, out walk, out run, and out think all of us. The last time we played home run derby at the college, we came home and he went through the whole list with us and said that he may not be able to out hit or throw us - but he could still out talk us and that if either of us wanted to argue with that, he would also out shoot us (especially with the AK.) He had a sense of humor of his own and we all love it. I miss seeing him start to get a big grin just before the punch lines.

He was involved in so many different things in life, but most important to him was being involved in all of our lives. He used to drop whatever he was doing to come and coach my baseball teams. I remember him coming to practice and to the games in either his suit after (or during) his church meetings, or his work clothes. He wrote in his life history that he coached 63 games between Quinn and I in just one summer! He said that he didn't know how he found time to work - I know he worked hard that summer - but being at our games was the priority.

I am grateful that he taught me the game of baseball. It is a great game. It has so many parallels with life's lessons. Of course like other sports, there is opposition or the opposing team. The good guys have a coach, as well as the other team. But unique only to baseball you have a 1st and 3rd base coach helping you each step of the way, they are there to make sure that you are always safe and that you eventually make it back home. The Manager gives direction to the other coaches and they act under that direction for your benefit. There are other aspects of the game like sacrifice bunts and flies that are intended only for advancing or helping another. Like I said, it is a great game and I will be forever grateful that my dad taught me about baseball. How to play it, watch it, respect it, and love it. I got to play catch with him for the last time Thanksgiving Day, he still had it at 59.

On December 24th we had Christmas Eve dinner at mom and dad's, December 25th we were at their house for a while and had some good conversations. December 26th we went to a movie with mom and dad, December 27th dad called me at about 6:00pm and said that they were inviting themselves over to play games and have chips and salsa - that was a good night - we laughed hard, December 28th he and I talked on the phone for a while about the priesthood lesson in his ward. December 29th at 11:00am, dad called and asked if I would come and give him a blessing. He said that he didn't know what was wrong - I could tell from his voice that it wasn't something small - but I didn't want to think about anything bad. I got a break from work a couple of hours later and went straight there. Jeremy Young just happened to get into town that day so the two of us gave dad a blessing while he laid there in his bed - I had the impression to tell him that the Lord had other callings in store for him where hundreds would benefit from his influence, I didn't realize at the time that it wouldn't be in the Santa Clara 12th ward, but rather on the other side. December 30th I had a headache from hell after a long day in court with Bronzen and went home to lay down for a while. I woke up with the worst feeling - I knew that my dad was in trouble. Five minutes later Maria called and told Meree that I needed to get to the hospital a.s.a.p. because dad had a heart attack. I got there quick to find Quinn and mom with about the same look on their faces as I had. We all wondered how this could be possible - the man who was "healthy as a horse" had a heart attack. The first thing I said to Quinn was "these kind of things don't happen to dad, what the hell?" The rest of the day was spent at his side and on the phone with loved ones as we all shared the burden of being bearers of bad news. We spent many hours at the hospital with friends and family there to show concern and support. The next day December 31st was a long day full of worry and planning amongst siblings in behalf of our mom and dad. Maria, Nicole, and Anita all came quickly - their three husbands were the ones who made that possible. We all sat there on the couch in the ICU waiting room and watched the ball drop ringing in a new year that none of us were quite ready for. New Year's day was another long one - that we now wish wouldn't have ended. We all sat in the hospital room with USC and Penn State in the background. We laughed, we cried, and we felt the strong presence of the Holy Ghost as it began to prepare us for something that none of us would ever be able to prepare for ourselves. Dad was calm, he spoke softly, but confidently that night. We kept asking him if he wanted us to leave and let him get some sleep - he was very persistent in telling us, "no, I want you to stay." One of the last things that we heard him say was, "maybe this is the miracle that I've been praying for." We all at one point or another got to have a short talk just with him while everyone was visiting. Quinn spent the night with him that night so that mom could get some sleep at home. After two days of promising recovery (December 31st and January 1st) things took a turn for the worse. On January 2, 2009 our husband, dad, grandpa, brother, friend, and hero passed away.

I will miss him, he is the epitome of what a dad should be. It is my hope that I will be able to clearly hang on to the many priceless lessons he taught me so that I can be the kind of dad that he is to me. I love you dad, you did good.

Love, Matt ("Sparky" "Matty-boy" "bud")

Tender Mercies

My heart has never felt so many different feelings in such a small amount of time. Matt's dad, Mark Hadley, passed away January 2nd, 2009 of a heart attack. Needless to say it was a great shock to our family. Although, my head spun and the tears began to flow uncontrollably as we sat in the waiting room at the hospital, I felt a sense of overwhelming gratitude for that short time we had with him the week before. As we have pulled together and faced the following weeks we have kept a list of the blessings, the tender mercies, that have come in all of this. How grateful I am for the privilege to be apart of such an amazing family. Each child and their spouse has been sealed in the Temple. We are all active in the church and it is because of the testimonies that we have of the Plan of Salvation and the Everlasting gospel that have given us strength to make it through. So many blessings have come and will come because of Mark. The Lord has allowed us to receive so much. We just happen to live 3 minutes away which gave Matt the opportunity to see his dad on a daily basis for the last 10 months. Porter just happens to be the only brown eyed grandchild. We get to look at him everyday and be reminded of Mark. Although these may seem small and insignificant, it's these very things that we consider tender mercies from the Lord. I am so grateful I got to know Mark. He is the only father that I have ever really known. He taught me how to laugh, he taught Matt how to work hard for his family, he taught our boys respect and to love baseball. I am so thankful for these tender moments that we had and we were able to share as a family. Thank you for bringing us closer together. I thank Heavenly Father for the time we were given to have him as part of our lives and for the desire to work that much harder so we can be together again someday. Carry on.

Cherishing Every Moment

I have finally come to terms that we have been given this life for a reason. The hand that I have been dealt was specifically created for me so that I can become the person that I hope so badly to be someday. Don't get me wrong, I am happy with who I am but there are always a few things that I would like to learn or be better at. I know that I have been blessed in my life with some extreme obstacles but there has been no greater reward than to say, "We made it!" I am so grateful for the life that I get to live. I would not change it for anything although some days I think I would. I cannot imagine who I would be without Matt as a permanent part of my life and being a mother to three amazing boys. I am so thankful.

Thanksgiving With The Hadley's

We just spent our first Thanksgiving with the boys at Mark and Sheila's. Wow, we have oodles of leftovers! We really had a good time. The day before we had our family pics and our family Christmas party. I know, a little backwards but it was the only time we could all be together this year and it was a hoot!

Everyone performed something. From piano solos and lip sinking to rock songs to a duet song from the Sound of Music and imitating Brian Reagan and a rap song and skit that made fun of family members. What a cool thing it is to be apart of such a fun family. I am so grateful for how accepting they have been of the changes that have taken place this past year and the love and support they have given. I am truly thankful for family this Thanksgiving. Thanks for being there for us.

Catching up with life!!

It seems like we are always running and going as fast as we possibly can - only to find out that life still moves faster than us. But we are happier than we ever have been. The saying that money can't by happiness is true. I do believe that it is one hell of a down payment though. We just moved into a house that is about 500 yards down the street from our last house. We were so glad that we found a place that was in our same ward!! This ward is awesome - so down to earth and chill. We have made some instant life long friends here which has made life that much better.

As far as what has happened since our first and only post - the boys are already done with the first quarter of school and they are both getting very good grades. That has been quite a challenge for them after missing almost 2 weeks for the elk hunt. Seth drew a bull tag on the Panguitch Lake area for the muzzleloader hunt. This is a very coveted tag (pretty much a once-in-a-lifetime tag) so we were going to take as long as we needed to make sure and get a big one. I took 5 days of work off and somehow managed to get my mandatory 30 hours in for the first week. Seth took of 7 full days of school and work, Bronzen took off 4 days, and Meree and Porter had the house to themselves for a few days. I'll go into more details when I do "The Elk Hunt" post this weekend.

Meree as always is doing all that she can, which is pretty much everything, to keep us on the right track and keep us happy. She doesn't know how to stop serving - I wish sometimes that she would think of herself more - but it just doesn't happen very often.

The Fishers and Belnaps are our new best friends and we hang out with them a lot. It is crazy how much we have in common and how much we love to be together. They are such good friends and real genuine people. Fish is one of the funniest people that I have ever met. It is non-stop comedy when we all get together especially when Belnap is there. Their son Tyson is Bronzen's new best bud. They do everything together - it has been perfect for both of them, Tyson keeps saying how he finally has the brother that he has always wanted and Bronzen has still been trying to fit in - in a new neighborhood. Their two girls are on the ball - and they love to keep Porter entertained. Porter loves going to there house and having so many new toys to play with. We met Fishers at church. He is a landscaper - one day he asked me what I did for work and I told him that I do concrete. His eyes lit up and he asked me if I could pour a pad for a basketball court at one of his jobs in Pine Valley. I gave him a bid and it was a little higher than the first one he got, but he decided to let me do it anyway. Well the first pour didn't exactly go the best. The wind picked up just after we laid it down and we worked our tails off to get a finish on it. When it was all said and done - it definately wasn't the finest job we've ever done - in fact probably the worst one. We went back up and patched a couple of spots and made it look decent. Fish was so good to us about it - he conviced the owner to do a 44' driveway as well. The driveway turned out great - he could've very easily got somebody else to do the driveway - but he trusted us that we would make it right. That job was such a huge blessing financially but more importantly we were able to become friends with this great family.

Meree just got called into the nursery at church and I'm sure she'll have plenty to say when she gets a chance. I am in the priests quorum which is right where I want to be. I love it in there - we have some good kids in the ward. Fish and Belnap are also both in the young men's so we get another excuse to hang out on wednesday nights.

Seth is busy with AP classes, working at Conrad Car Wash and hanging out with his buddies and his new fling Tiffany. They went to Homecoming a couple of weeks ago. Meree met her on Tuesday - but I still have not officially met her. Her birthday was last week and Seth wanted to do something funny. We thought and thought and finally came up with me dressing up like Matt Foley and going into their seminary class to give her a motivational speech. Unfortunately for me, Meree got it all on video and I'm sure she'll be posting for your viewing pleasure. We were going to try to keep it a secret and when she came to the house Matt Foley was going to answer the door. But one of the kids in the ward was in the class and ended up spillin' the beans. WTH - John??? Seth has been asked to Sadies twice and is trying to decide if he is going to be "out of town" or not that weekend.

That's all for now - but hopefully we can get with the program and post more often.

Here we go!

To all those who view our blog I am going to write as if I have already being doing this for quite some time and you already know all about us. However, for those who are viewing and don't know much about our crew, I would like to invite you to read the small intro to our family and how we came to be.

Intro:Matt and I met here in St. George and we were married Augast 7, 2004. Mini Matt or Porter James, which ever you prefer, was born March 3, 2007 and we recently took in my two brothers Seth who is 16 and Bronzen who recently turned 11 after my mother's passing. They have lived with us since May of this year and they are an awesome addition to the fam. They have been converted to loving/obsessing over baseball and in return they have shown us the fundmantals of Rock Band. What a wonderous joy it has been to have these two come to live with us already having been carried for 9 months, given birth to, and even potty trained (I highly recommend it!). We are now a happy family a five and were loving every minute of it.

Our First Holiday

This is our first official holiday as the Hadley & Haynes family. We went with Dj and Elise and their family to the Hidden Valley splash pads and had a BBQ.