Golden Gate Bridge turns 75 Years Old

I noticed in the news today that the Golden Gate Bridge is turning 75 years old this month and it triggered a fun memory. When the bridge turned 50 years old, we were living in the Bay Area and heard they were going to have a big celebration, including fireworks. So, knowing we were living a bit of history, we gathered up our little family on a Sunday evening and drove to San Francisco. It was VERY CROWDED, but somehow we managed to find a parking space and then we walked a few blocks to a great place where we had a perfect view of the fireworks, which were taking place right over the bridge. We were there with our good friends, Keoki and Christy Williams and their family. It was an awesome experience that I will never forget. I wonder if our kids remember being there. If not, at least they now know they were a part of history!

Visit from Mom, Kathy & Dennis

Although I don't have pictures from their visit, we loved having my Mom and Kathy and Dennis come and visit for a long weekend. I do have one half of a picture of Mom, when we went to Kylie and Lexi's piano recital the first night she arrived. Mom stayed with us and Kathy and Dennis stayed with Brady and Elizabeth. The main purpose of their visit was for Brady's graduation with his MBA from ASU and the blessing of their new baby, Liam. We're so glad Mom was able to come along with them and we always consider it a treat when she comes here. On Sunday, after the baby blessing, we had a family dinner with all of them and all of our family, which we enjoyed. Here are the pictures from the recital:

 The girls did such a great job at their recital. I'm so happy they are taking piano lessons.....

 and I hope they keep it up for a very long time!

 Only half of Mom is in this picture. I wish I would have taken more pictures! But here is cute Sadie with me.

Bryan's turn to go to California

It's hard for Bryan and I to get away at the same time because right now Real Estate is quite busy, so I stayed home this time to take care of real estate. It was Bryan's turn to go to California on a little vacation.

Bryan's friend, Charanjit Grewal, who he has known for many years, invited us to his daughter, Riga's wedding. It was a Sikh wedding, which was a new experience for Bryan. He loved being there and participating in all of the events.

He was also able to spend some time with Michael, Mallory and Madie. Bryan, Michael & Madie went to Yosemite for a day trip, which Bryan enjoyed very much. For as many years as we lived in California, we really hadn't been to Yosemite, so it was a treat for Bryan. Here are some of the pictures from his trip.

 Bridal Veil Falls

 Lower Yosemite Falls

 Papa and Madie with El Capitan in the background

 El Capitan

 I love these pictures of Papa and Madie

I'm so glad Bryan had a chance to get away. He was super stressed before he left and he needed a break!

Easter Feast

We love the fact that a lot of Bryan's family is moving to Arizona. Lynn's daughter Stacey and her family live in Glendale and his son, David and family, just moved to Surprise. Lynn and Cherie are going to move to Arizona probably sometime this year. Paul's daughter Emilie and her family live in Mesa, Annette & Ron and Annette's son, Jon and family, live in Maricopa. Then there is our family, of course. 

So, on Easter, we invited everyone over for Easter dinner. We ended up with  16 kids and 12 adults! Here are the tables before everyone arrived. We not only had 1 kids table, we had 4 of them!

 And here they are.......

 Here are the bigger kids.......

 After dinner, we had an Easter Egg hunt in our back yard. The kids are getting lined up for the hunt.

 And Tyler helped hold them back until it was time to GO!

 There were plenty of eggs for everyone. I think we had about 200 eggs, so everyone was happy.

 Here are Sadie, Myles and Brodi checking out their candy.

 Emilie and Ben brought homemade ice cream - yummy!

 Tiffany brought sugar cookies for the kids to frost themselves.

 Hannah took her bow out of her hair, which made it stick straight up!

We loved having everyone over and enjoyed visiting. We anticipate a lot more Watkins parties as we recruit more people to move here! We love having family around.

My Favorite Things

My friend, Lisa Pulsipher, had a 'Favorite Things' party. She invited about 20 people and each person was to bring their favorite thing x 5 to the party. We couldn't spend more than $5 on each of the items. It thought about it and realized one of my favorite things is Bath and Body Works Lotion - particularly White Citrus. I can't live without lotion. I put it on my hands everytime after they get wet and I put it on my feet every night before I go to bed. I can't really sleep with dry hands and feet. So, I took 5 of these lotions to the party.

When each person arrived at the party, we put our name in a jar 5 times. Lisa prepared her favorite foods and served us dinner. After dinner, we sat in a circle and one at a time, we showed our favorite thing and told why it was our favorite thing, then we drew 5 names out of the jar and those 5 people received our item. It was so much fun! I came home with M&M's, a lint brush, foamy hand soap, a hair bow and a chocolate easter bunny. It was so much fun! Thanks, Lisa for a wonderful time! Such a great idea.

April Fools!

Shannon was assigned the dessert for our Sunday dinner on April Fool's Day and she got very creative! It was so funny! We all enjoyed this delicious dessert! Kitty Litter cake! It was actually very good and the ummm little brown things are tootsie rolls. Great job, Shannon!

 The girls found the dress-up box and had fun modeling different costumes.

 Sam needs some boy cousins to live closer to him. He does love his girl cousins though.

 I love this picture of Papa and Hannah.

New grandson!

We're so excited that Michael and Mallory are going to give us another grandson in May or June. Can't wait! Here are his 3-D ultrasound pictures.

Happy 1st Birthday, Hannah!

March 22, 2012

Happy 1st Birthday to our little miracle baby, Hannah! 

Here is a picture before the cake came.

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you!

 Happy Birthday, Dear Hannah, Happy Birthday to you!

 Come on, dive in, Hannah!

 There she goes....

 And the cake is scattered all over her tray - and her hands and face. Good job.

We love you, Hannah and we're so glad you came to join our family. You are such a little doll.

Arthur Watkins Viewing and Funeral

Friday, March 2, 2012

I want to remember how good Arthur looked, so I am posting a picture of him at his viewing. He looks so peaceful and is finally with Ruth, with his brother, Don, who he missed so much and his parents, sisters, and all of his other loved ones who have passed on. What a happy reunion for all of them!

 Sweet Holly, Jeff, Claire & Ethan drove all the way from Iowa to the funeral. It took them 24 hours each way and they only had 2 days in Utah. They felt very close to Grandpa because they were able to live with him when they were first married - soon after Ruth had passed away. They loved their time with him and feel blessed to have had that opportunity.

 Bryan's siblings: Bryan, Lynn, Annette, Laurel, Denise, Marie, Ron, Paul

BJ and Shannon also drove out for the funeral - I didn't get a picture of them at the viewing. Tyler and Sadie came with Bryan and I, and Tiff stayed home with Kylie and Lexi because they couldn't miss any more school. Michael and Mallory weren't able to be there either, but they had just visited Grandpa the month before, so they were thankful they were able to do that.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

The funeral was held on the same day my father passed away 4 years ago. It brought back a lot of memories of that day and made me reflect on my dad's life, as well as Bryan's dad's life during the events of the day. Bryan and I are blessed to have been born to such wonderful parents.

My sweet Mom and my sweet sister and her husband let us invade their homes. THANK YOU, Mom and Kathy & Dennis for letting us stay with you!
Here are all the kids eating their breakfast at Grandma Clark's house before the funeral.

 And BJ and Shannon cooking breakfast.....

Since the funeral was in the afternoon, BJ, Shannon & kids, Holly, Jeff & kids, Tyler, Sadie and I were able to make a trip to the cabin in Provo Canyon on Saturday morning. I didn't get any pictures of this, but it was quite the adventure. There was a lot of snow and we had to walk down to the cabin from the main road. Sam and Brodi haven't been around snow much, so they kind of had a hard time, but it was a fun little walk. Luckily, Hannah was at home with Grandma Clark, sleeping peacefully!

The funeral was very nice. Lynn, Denise, Marie and Annette spoke. Bryan gave the opening prayer and Laurel gave the closing prayer. Paul gave the family prayer and Ron dedicated the grave. There were musical numbers by Staci Watkins and by Jeff Howlett. 

Arthur was buried at Orem City Cemetery. I thought it was such a great idea to have the grandsons stand in a line as the sons and sons-in-law carried the casket. It was very moving.

Since Arthur was a veteran, he was able to receive full military rites at the cemetery, which was amazing.

I can't listen to 'Taps' without shedding tears. I found out that one of my distant relatives wrote 'Taps'. It always reminds me of police funerals and I don't like to think about those - it hits too close to home.

Folding the flag

Presenting the flag to the oldest sibling - Annette

Tyler and Sadie

All of our family who was able to attend the funeral

Jeff and Claire at the family dinner, which the Ward was so gracious to prepare for such a large group!

And here is a picture of all the immediate family who was at the funeral! I can't remember the exact count, but it was close to 200. Amazing posterity!

 We drove back to the cemetery the day after the funeral and this is how the grave looked. BYU donates a 'Y' wreath of flowers to people who have taught there.

The talks and the music at the funeral were all fabulous and for the most part, everything went forward without a hitch. Bryan has a wonderful family and it was a great reunion - what a way to honor his dad!

We were also able to visit my Dad's grave the next day. Here is my Mom with BJ, Sam and Brodi.