Fun with the girls!

One of my favorite things about going to Idaho in the summer is catching up with dear friends.  This summer I got to go see Rachel Nibarger...but I didn't get a pic of us.  I also got to go see Jamie Page...one of my dearest friends from college and beyond.  It was great to see her as well as her whole family. 
 

Here is Susan...loving on Tina's newest addition Parks.

New friends

Then I went to lunch with Jaimee Orton.  Spencer tagged along and was actually really annoying...but it was week two with little sleep...so I let it slide. :) 

 

  And of course I consider my sister's and sister-in-laws some of my favorite friends of all.  We decided to do a girls night and it turned out that everyone could make it!!! First we had fro-yo...then painted glitter toes.  Great night with wonderful ladies.

We even talked Mom into coming.  She usually comes up with an excuse to work quietly in the background...but she came and we love her! 

 

 

Baptism and Baby Blessings

So the night before the big day of 3 baby blessings and 1 baptism...I decided to spend the night with Tina.  Nick wasn't there and it was just fun to have that special time with my "bestie" Tina Marie.  Aubrey spent the night with Ty's family so it was just mostly the boys and little Melrose. 
I love this next picture.  Such handsome boys ready for the special day.

I didn't even get pictures of the babies...but we had 3 babies welcomed into our family in a matter of weeks...so they decided to bless Wade Jensen, Parks Smith and little Aura Peterson all on the same day...and throw in a baptism of little Rachael Harmon to top it all off.  It was a great meeting and I feel so blessed to be apart of such a wonderful family with the Gospel in our lives. 

 

This is my youngest sister's little girl Claire who was blessed a few months before.

 Later that day the kids all danced with each other.  Weston was being a the "strong guy" and picking up all the girls.  He was sweating like a beast and making everyone soooo happy.  Fun day.,

 

 

 

 

Fourth of July

We started our Idaho trip close to the fourth.  I always love to take the kids to the Rupert Parade and it didn't disappoint.  It was too hot like usual, but my kids just love the candy and goodies they get.  I love the horses and floats you only see in these small town parades.  That night we went to my parent's home teachers' house...and watched fireworks.  I heard they were great but I was totally shocked at how long and wonderful they really were.  It was great to be so close and to have all my kiddos stay awake this year.  Love celebrating the fourth in Idaho!

 

 

Get a load of all these cousins.  This is what it looked like A LOT at Grandma and Grandpa Peterson's house.  In fact, usually there were more.  This is just 4 of the families. 

 

 

 

Family Vacation 2012....coming soon.

 

So I am currently in St. George UT and on our way to AZ tomorrow.  I have hundreds and photos and lots of fun memories in my heart.  Can't wait to blog and share some of the joy.  Here is a picture we had taken at Temple Square in the family history center.  Love this little fam!!

Happy Day!

The Watkins had planned to have a fun pool day to celebrate Father's Day this year.  So we had it Sat. instead of Sunday.  This made it fall on June 16th which is our oldest daughter Samantha's birthday. Samantha would be ten years old today.  We wanted to do something simple but fun to celebrate her birthday.  So we bought some balloons and had all of her cousins write little notes and draw pictures to "send up to heaven."  Our kids were really excited that she would get "balloons on her day!"
   

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weston was just drawing the last bit of his picture when his balloon popped.  He was super sad.  We taped it together and sent it up with Cicily's balloon.  It said "Dear Samantha, I miss you.  Why did you have a hole in your heart?  Love Weston."

Aubrey's balloon

 

We sang happy birthday and let the balloons go.  I was doing really good today and feeling at peace about the whole thing...until then.  I couldn't sing because I just miss her so much and I felt like we have missed a lot more than birthdays with this sweet girl.

So I cried.

 

 

Watching the balloons fly in the sky...I feel that she really does know how much we ALL love and miss her.  I know she loved her little love letters from home. 

Weston started crying as they flew off and said..."I miss my sister sooooo much mom."  He is such a sweet soul and talked about her throughout the day.  He told me tonight he just cries easy when he misses things.

When we got home from swimming we ended up just writing little notes on our feet.  I don't know what started it...but it was fun and the kids loved their "secret note to sis."



Aubrey

Weston

My little blessings!

 Today was a Happy Day.  I will always have a hole in my own heart for our Samantha Lee...but the Lord has been good to me and our family and we know it.  I know we will see her again.  What a great thing to look forward to after this life.  In the mean time...I will be grateful for all I have.

Daddy Time

 

One thing I LOVE about Jake's job...is sometimes he can work from home. So the other day, for a little break in the day...he decided to make sugar cookies with the kiddos. They had so much fun making the dough and rolling out the different shapes. They were delicious too!  I love that Jake can cook and that he likes to be with our kids. TWO awesome things about my honey. Love you Jake, and I appreciate all you do for our family.

"Lotsa... Lotsa!"

So this is a very random post I guess. Spencer used to say "lotsa lotsa.." and that is what you are gonna get!  A while back Jake bought me another camera that is smaller and easier to throw in my purse on the go. So here are some photos I got off of it today.

Here we have Spencer playing with our 2 pet anoles. We had them for about 6 weeks, but got tired of buying crickets and I felt like they smelled bad. So one night we decided to let them go roam in our garden and live outside. We haven't seen them since. Haha I know they are safe but we miss seeing them.

So this is our new SUMMER GAME BOARD. I love it. Jake spent hours making this. It is about 2 feet by 3 feet. It is set up to be just like Mario Party. The kids can earn spaces by being good, doing chores, not fighting...then there are games planned and awards through out. We started today and hopefully they stay as excited as they were today to "behave." Spencer ate dinner with no fuss...it was AMAZING! In the end, we should end up camping, swimming, bowling and other things. Should be fun this summer.

This is a sneak peak of the crib bedding for our little one on the way. I am making it myself and kind of dreading the project, but it should be fun once I start.

So here is a story... I got a note from both Aubrey and Weston's teacher that they would be getting an award at their upcoming award show at school. So Tuesday I went to see Weston get his award. I figured it was for his grades (he got all A's!) Well, I got there and the awards were for attendance and 100% homework. They never called his name. So I assumed he would be getting the last award. The Principle called it a "Citizenship Award" and there was only 1 boy and 1 girl chosen from each class. She said it was for kids who were exceptional students, kind, respectful and just all around WONDERFUL! So here I am thinking he will get it...and I am beaming, but they didn't call his name. I felt like I was gonna cry. Not for me, but for Weston...he knew I was there and looked so confused. Anyway, I thought there was just one award per grade, but there was one per teacher...so then they called his name. I actually started to cry, because Weston (we love him) can be so hard sometimes... and I know Jake and I are hard on him.  But we see how wonderful and bright and kind he is.  It was just so great to see that his teachers see it too.  Weston we love you and you are a WONDERFUL kid. It just made me happy to see him so proud of himself. 

 

So the story doesn't end there. Aubrey saw his award that night and was POSITIVE she would receive the same award the next day at her awards' ceremony. I again, felt nervous for her knowing that there is only one girl who will get it! I know she is a great student...but still. So Jake and I go the next day to watch Aubrey get her awards...and sure enough...she was chosen as the "Citizen of her class." Needless to say, we were very happy and proud of her and her brother. It was a good parent day for sure. The kids kept saying "We are so good when we are around other people."  We just need to work on that at home as well.

 

These next few pictures are of our celebration dinner for the kids that night. We had candlelight and "fancy glasses" and toasts all around. What a way to end the school year! I am so glad I decided to send them this year. Both Aubrey and Weston's teachers just seemed perfect for them. I was so sick the last few months with the baby that I am just super grateful that they were in good hands.

Gosh...this is a long blog entry. Bear with me friends and loyal readers. This picture is of the first day of summer break. We went swimming at Aunt Connie's all morning..then that afternoon we went to get free donuts for "National Donut Day." Thank you Krispy Kreme!!

This picture is of Aubrey and her friends at Logan's Baptism in Maricopa. Aubrey misses her friends so much from our old home. We decided to make the trek and I am so glad we did. I got to see a lot of my old wonderful friends as well.

Aubrey likes Logan so much...but seemed so nervous around him. It was precious!


Now, last but not least. Here we have Weston who pulled his own tooth last night. He was soooooooooooo excited! Most of his friends have already lost teeth so he has been wanting this for some time now. He looks cute!

The note reads. Hi tooth fairy. My name is Weston and I lost my first tooth today!