Evan Hatchell Alexander, like his Dad, loved technology. This picture was taken in Southern California visiting his great grandparents, Elmer and Marjorie Grabe. Alexander was always my snuggle bunny. He slept on my chest as an infant and spent most of his time sleeping in our family bed between Jessica and me. I sometimes wonder if I seeded the clouds to make him so physically affectionate with us by carrying him around in one of these front pouches everywhere. I have always loved feeling him pressed up next to me. Even as a 16 year old bigger than me, a few weeks ago (2/2021) we laid in bed watching Mandalorian together and my "little man" still loved putting his head on my arm, wrapping his leg around mine, and holding my hand or rubbing my "buddha belly".

Jessica Hatchell This was the fishing trip where Alexander got bored waiting and wanting to catch a fish so badly, he started a little saying, “I wishy wishy wishy for a fishy fishy fishy.” After that, there was nothing like a teenager humoring us saying that line just to humor us.

Jessica Hatchell Alexander has always loved his pets. We had Sariah when he was born and he wanted to do everything with her. In the beginning he would call her Siah (sigh-uh). He had a beta fish named Swiper (many moms from that age will remember the phrase from Dora the explorer, “Swiper, no swiping.). He had some other fish along the way. When he was 5, we adopted a dog and chose the name Duke because Alexander was obsessed with GI Joe at the time. They were the best of friends.

Elsa-Victoria Manny Childhood friends, despite their age difference, Brandon S and Alexander found each other and made each others childhood happier! Here they are going on a hay ride.

Elsa-Victoria Manny They gravitated toward each other. Brandon took Alexander under his wings and a special friendship was born. Here they are in the One-Room-Schoolhouse in Tubac as part of the Loving to Learn Group.

Elsa-Victoria Manny Playing board games was a fun thing to do ... that is until Minecraft permeated their days. Of course, Evan had to go build a server for them to play. Alexander and Brandon S. spent hours building awesome Minecraft towns! There was no stopping these two. Brandon would get his homework done faster than ever to go play with Alexander. In this picture, they are playing at the HUB Game Day.

Jessica Hatchell One of our Vegas trips we went to the Blue Man Group show and got to meet some of the cast after.

Evan Hatchell Alexander loved learning about Scouts and in particular working on merit badges and increasing his knowledge. He had a huge advantage since I was a Scout leader and in our family, we believed that there was something to learn in every opportunity. Alexander, Jessica and I did a lot of outdoor activities and dovetailed his Scout knowledge into our on-going activities. This was a win-win for us and such a huge blessing in our lives.