Payson/Watkins Retreat

So I wish I would have taken more pics of what we did...I was stuck on only taking pictures down by the creek.  But we did do other things which included...2 nights of Ticket to Ride where my competitive nature reared it's ugly head (sorry Mike.) Then another night of CLR and this really fun traditional dice game. 

Then the kids enjoyed wi and mostly just loving that they all slept in their own room with a TV and tons if crafts (thanks Grandma...genius!)

Chris gave us a tour of "Shoefly" which is what is left of some Indian ruins close to Payson.  Very interesting.

Spencer standing on an adobe type wall.

Aubrey and Weston and Maya all got along famously and Spencer and Max did as well.  Good times.

And last but not least...no pic though...we ATE ALOT OF WONDERFUL FOOD.  Gotta love the Watkins!!!

Playing at the creek.

So the night before I left for Payson and Idaho...for 3 weeks...I was begining to panic that I did not I have a camera.  My usual one was not working...so my plan was to bring it to Idaho and hope I could get it repaired here.  Anyhoo...Jake was at Sam's club and found a Canon Powershot that had been returned and the price was reduced.   I told him to buy it and he did and I am loving it.  I am still learning it...but got some great pics so far.  Enjoy.
 

Crawdad fishing

So more blogging to come.  But this is what Weston and his dad did for hours on our recent trip to Payson with the Watkins' family.  Lots and lots of time spent then will not be soon forgotten for little Weston.  He was in heaven. We cooked them up one night...but sadly did NOT like them.   Feel bad we cooked so many.  Fun times though.

Summer fun.

Well my camera is broken...NOT happy about that. I am currently trying to figure out if I can have it fixed or get a new one. Until then, I won't have a camera. But I wanted to use these pic...posted by friends on facebook to show us having some fun.  A few weeks back we went with the Morris family and slid down their awesome HUGE slide...so Jake decided to have a work party and do it again.

Kurt and kids and his nephews.

This is Tina Arter and I from our ward.

This is my favorite picture.  Spencer finally joined in the fun.

Later that day we went to Kurt and Liz's house and hung out by the pool and chatted and spent the rest of the day there.  It was so much fun.  We love the Hayes family.  I wish I had pictures of them...but I don't think I do.  Still fun...either way.

Samantha my dear.

Today is June 16, 2011 which marks the 9 year anniversary of Samantha Lee Watkins.  I actually CANNOT believe that it has been that long.  It is crazy to me how much our lives were changed on that day.  I was made a mother...and Jake a father...(it was Father's day at that.)  Our testimonies of the Plan of Salvation were tried and tested...and made stronger.  We learned about love.  Today we started out our little Birthday Celebration with me and the kiddos watching our "Samantha Video."  Trisha put together a video with pictures and music and stuff shortly after her passing.  It was great to watch with my kids and there were NO tears this year.  Aubrey lovingly explained things to Spencer and we oohed and awed over how cute she is and how LONG her hair was. 

Later this afternoon while driving in the car with the kids...we were singing at the top of our lungs to Justin Bieber.  It just hit me that I would have a NINE year old and she would probably LOVE Justin as much or more than my others.  So we turned it up and sang a few more in her honor. 

Then tonight we had a dinner planned by the kids.  It was going to be her whole name...but we didn't have enough food...so we went with Sammy!  Dinner was delish and we broke out the new crystal glasses that we recently received from our late Grandpa Vern.  It is a Watkins' tradition to have "fancy" meals so this was the perfect occasion to celebrate and break out the new goblets too.  It consisted of well behaved children "toasting" Samantha.  I am not being sarcastic either.  It is always nice when the kids behave.

I think Weston said it best when he said..."  I would like to make a toast (insert raised glasses...Spencer's tiny chubby hands clasping his fancy glass).... to our little Samantha and.... the Resurrection!!!"  Just writing that makes me cry.  

 I love all our children and we felt her sweet Spirit with us here today.  I know that because she is in our family...we are that much MORE excited and grateful for the resurrection.  I love my Savior with all my heart and I am so grateful to be a member of HIS true church.  Here is a link for any of my friends who are curious about what I believe...www.mormon.org

So the Y in her name...aka her nickname stands for YOGURT and we are off to celebrate with a family favorite...Frozen Yogurt to make the night complete. 

Today was a good day and we love you Samantha sweety!!

Tracy was here!!!

So one of my "besties" came to visit. You remember Tracy Badger...who moved to Louisiana last summer? She was only in every other blog post last year...Anyway we haven't forgotten her. 

Tracy decided to come to AZ on her long drive from the south to California...and she stopped here to spend a few days. We are so glad she did. There was a whole lots of swimming, laughing, late nights, cute kids, shopping, bowling and more. 

Spencer just hasn't quite figured out how to smile on command yet.

The bowling adventure.  I finally beat Jake one time.

OK...so Jake was absolutely AMAZING!  Seriously he kept offering to watch all the kids so Tracy and I could go and have fun.  Thanks so much honey.  I love you!!!

Swimming at Aunt Connie's pool...so much fun. 

Tracy, Steph and myself.

See what I mean about Jake.  All three girls got to go to the temple one of the nights.  I needed it.  Followed by a little retail therapy.  I ended up returning both dresses I bought.  Having issues finding things I really like lately. 

These girls had a lot of fun "talking" into the night.

More bowling pics...

Kara, Darcy, Tracy, Ashley and Teri

A fun girls night.  I tried edaname the "right"way... and then we shopped, talked and watched a chick flick....oh, and I got a new bra!!!  Sorry ladies for any nightmare that might have ensued...due to the countless minutes spent waiting for me to find a bra that passed my vigorous bra tests... it was so fun to see all of you! 

Fun little craft.

So the other day my good friend Tina and I decided to have a craft night.  It started out just us two, but through word of mouth, it ended up with about seven of us girls all sitting around and laughing and making these.  I only knew a few of the women, but now they are my new friends.  Isn't it great how a craft night can just make you so happy? Anyway, it is called a lima bean wreath and it doesn't need much explanation.  We just googled it and got the idea. It was easy and perfect to just sit and talk.  I think I took about 4 hours doing mine.  I just thought maybe it would be something that my other friends could make.  If your having a lonely day...plan a lima bean night and see what happens! I love mine.

Burned fingers.

Before I painted it.  You can just leave it like this, but my door was white.

The final product.

I just wish I would have thought to take a picture of all the cute ladies that came.  It was fun girls and I can't wait to do it again.

Fun Lately

So this is the most random group of pictures...but I decided to catalog them all as the fun we are having lately at the Watkins' household.  First we have our beautiful fruits of the garden...

It seriously has been so much fun. This is our first garden and we are loving the zucchini, squash, we have carrots and swiss chard and the tomatoes are almost ready.  Loving it. 

Then here is some more random stuff...Jake's idea...we decided to go to the park and try out iceblocking.  It wasn't as fun as I remembered it, but the kids had fun.  We also got to see our long lost buds from Maricopa.  The FOATES!  Love this family.

The weather has been so beautiful lately and it was just nice to get out and enjoy the sun and good friends, and of course, good food.  So speaking of fun and nice weather...here is a shot of today, Memorial Day...  our friends the Morris family invited us to the park and they had this awesome SUPER huge slide.  They covered it with water and some sort of soap and it was super fun. 

Weston and his buddy Brigham.

And here we have the BEST sunday dinner I have had in a long time.  I ran into my friend Jill on facebook.  We were friends clear back when I was single at BYU working in the women's locker room.  Anyway, we have been trying to get together to have girls lunch or something and it hasn't worked out.  So we decided to just get the families together.  So we did.  We made yummy fajitas and they brought dessert.  I had no idea how the night would go...(we haven't seen each other or talked for ever...) but of course, it was SUPER fun.  We talked non-stop and laughed and just had a blast.  My kids loved them too. 

Anyway, I know this wasn't a clever post or anything, but I just wanted to show some of our new friends and say; we feel super lucky and happy since we moved here to Mesa.  Not to take anything away from the AWESOME life we had in Maricopa.  But we are thrilled to be making new friends, have more time together as a family and to just be here.  We are very blessed. 

And He does it AGAIN.

So every so often, Jake just does something that I TOTALLY love and something I NEVER thought he would do. Example: sing with me at a Stake Christmas fireside...or throw me a HUGE surprise party. Simple things...but GREAT things like dedicate a song and sing to me at Karoke...still one of my favorite memories. Anyway, to some these wouldn't be a big deal...or maybe with a different personality, I would expect these things from Jake. But with Jake...I don't expect it, and I KNOW he does it only to make ME happy. I guess that is the best part, knowing that he LOVES me enough to go way out of his comfort zone to show me. Anyway, back to the post at hand. Tonight....wait for it, Jake and I went ................................................. DANCING! ha ha..it just makes me laugh. I guess the Mesa Highschool Jazz band was doing some fundraiser thing. So Jake kind of surprised me and took me tonight.(I knew we were dancing...but he got the tickets.) We learned the Eastcoast Swing and just had a total blast. I kind of grew up dancing in my teens, but all my memories are just that...MEMORIES. So it was just so much fun to be dancing with MY husband. He really is a natural and together we were pretty good I thought. Jake kept saying "stop smiling so much!" But, I couldn't and I didn't...and I won't, for a LONG TIME.

Peterson Family Pictures May 2011

So my brother Ty was supposed to take family pictures for us right before Traci and Ryan's Wedding Reception.  However, it rained out the planned outdoor part and we had to hurry and set it up at the church.  This left only about 10 to 15 minutes to get a few shots.  They really turned out so WONDERFUL considering we had 16 in all and only a few minutes.  Thanks Katie (Ty's wife) for taking the shots.  I love them and will cherish this for a long time.  I love my family so much.  This is the first time we have been all together in like eight years or something. 

 So here is all of us! 

I know these are on facebook, but I want them here cause I print out my blog in a book. 

 Ty got these shots just really quick.  Love my sister Tina....love all my sisters so much. 

It is weird to see yourself aging slowly...I see it in this pic.  I love it anyway.

So here is the WHOLE family including my wonderful parents who gave us all the perfect childhood and foundation for life.  Thanks Mom and Dad.  I love you so much.

And still...I can't even look at a picture like this and just wonder....HOW DID YOU DO IT?