Merry Christmas

I just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. I am so excited for Christmas. I enjoy having my family together during the holidays. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Grandpa Hawkins spent the week with us and it was great visiting with him. For Christmas, most of the kids will be here for our Christmas Eve party. We have always enjoyed a nice dinner and then games after. It is fun to see the excitement on the little faces of my Grandchildren as we talk about Christmas. I hope they remember the real reason we celebrate during this time of the year. It is of course always fun to exchange gifts with each other, but the most important reason we celebrate Christmas is our elder brother Jesus Christ who came to this earth to help each and everyone of us return to our Father in Heaven. We will miss our wonderful Mother and Grandmother this year, but it is the knowledge of the atonement that helps us know we will be with her again. I hope all have a wonderful time during this season and remember that Christ is the reason we celebrate CHRISTmas.

Halloween

Just wanted to show off 8 of my 9 grandchildren. They were all dressed and ready to go out trick or treating.

New job and new phone

I thought I better update this blog. So we returned last week from a wonderful family reunion in Park City. Thanks to my dad, we had a wonderful place to stay and had a great time. We relaxed, went swimming, ate and then went swimming and relaxed all while we got re-aquainted with cousins and brothers and sisters. It was a great time and the weather couldn't have been better. Thanks to all who came and made it such a good event. Well, the next new thing in our life is Erik's new job. He will be working for another contracting company for the military, but this time he will be working with one of his loves, the ICBM missiles. He worked with the missile systems while active duty with the Air Force, and was so excited when asked to come and work with it again. He is currently in Virginia at a training course for the week, and then will start the following week back at the base. That brings up the new phone. He had a phone from his old job, but he had to leave that one in his old office. Therefore a new phone was in order. TMobile has a BOGO free on SMART phones. So yes I got the free one and it is a SMART phone. So much for me, Oh I will conquer it!!!!! It is very hard to teach an old dog new tricks, but I am determined to learn how to use it. So the next blog might contain pictures of me using it. Stay tuned.

New addition to our home

We have been so happy to finally finishing our kitchen downstairs. The contractors did a great job. We are enjoying the extra space and it will be especially great to have during the holidays for cooking! This summer doesn't have too many things going on. We have a family reunion in Park City and a wedding in St George, but other than that we will just enjoy relaxing at home. I hope everyone has a great summer. I will post pictures as event happen.

Life goes on

Well, by now all of you know that nearly three months ago, I lost my Mom. It is harder than I thought it would be. I know that she is out of pain, and doing a lot of work on the other side of the veil, but I really miss her. Especially with Mother's Day coming up. Dad is trying to be strong, and everyday he is doing better. But we all know that we have to continue in our life and day by day things will be ok. For an upbeat note, Thursday the 29th of April, we added an addition to our family. Katie and Adam are proud parents of another son, Griffin Alexander entered this world after saying goodbye to Grandma Hawkins, weighing in at 5lbs14oz and 19 1/2 in. Lots of dark hair and doing great. We are so excited to get to know him. Also Keli announced another addition to her family will be coming the end of Oct. Yeah for our family, it is growing!!!. May 18th we will be celebrating our 32nd anniversary. We will be celebrating in Washington and Victoria. No it is not another cruise, boohoo, but it will be alot of fun. I am married to a great guy. I love him so much, Happy Anniversary Erik. The years have just flown by so quickly. I look forward to another 32 with you.

Update on our lives

Well not a lot of things have happened this past month. The most important has been the passing of my Mother. It has been exactly 1 month, and I really do miss her, but I know that she is much better off now that she is out of pain. We are just trying to live each day to be a little better than the day before so we can see her again someday. Stephen finally got a job and is doing well. Baby Kohen is growing so fast, I can't believe he is two months old now. Katie is doing well with her pregnancy, and is looking so cute. But that is a Mom talking. Erik and I are planning a vacation to Seattle in a few months and we are really looking forward to some time away together. It will be a lot of fun to have some time just the two of us.

Happy new year!

Well now that all the holidays are over(so sad), it is time to get back to the routine again. Decorations are all put away and the house looks a little empty. I guess it must be time to decorate, or get something new in the house. Oh, ya, we are getting something new in the house. Roxana and Stephen are having their baby boy on Thursday. I guess that is about the best thing new you could put in the house. We are all excited for little Kohen's arrival. And then in May we will welcome another new baby boy, Griffin Powell. It is so great being a Grandmother. I think that there really isn't anything better that having grandchildren.