Play-date at McDonalds

It was so much fun to be home and get to hang out with lots of my friends and family back and Utah!  One day my sister, Nicole, and I decided to take our girls to the local McDonalds and let the girls have a fun time playing in the new place place!  Elise had a great time!  Here are some cute pictures of her!

All of the toys made music if you touched them or went down the slide and Elise really liked that. She is VERY into music right now and loves to smile, swing her arms, and bounce up and down when she hears it.  It is so cute!

We sure do love this girl!!!

My Grandpa's Funeral

I was fortunate enough to be able to fly home so I could attend my Grandpa Watkins funeral.  He passed away on Feb. 23rd 2012 and was just four years shy of turning the big 100!!  Although he didn't make it quite there I still think he is the definition of "enduring to the end". 

It was a beautiful funeral and celebration of his life and all of his accomplishments and attributes.  He has an amazing legacy- 8 children, 42 grandchildren and 109 great-grandchildren!  We sure made quite the group!!

He was buried next to his sweet wife, Ruth, in the Orem City Cemetary.  All of his children and 37 of the 42 grandchildren were able to be there.

He worked for many years as a Professor at BYU and recieved these special flowers from President Cecil Samuelson himself!  Quite the honor!

This is a picture of many of the grandsons as they brought out the casket.  There were also several retired veterans there to pay tribute to my Grandpa with a 21 gun salute.  I have never been to a funeral where this was done, and it was very neat to see.  We are so glad they were able to be there to perform this honor for him. 

We will definitely miss my Grandpa so much and it is so strange to think that I no longer have any living grandparents but I know they are in a better place and that I will be able to see them again someday!  I'm just grateful for the time I got to have with them while they were here.

The Abundant Life

My sweet Grandpa, Arthur Watkins, passed away this past Thursday. He was 95 and truly lived life to the fullest.  When you would go to visit him and ask how he was doing he would reply, "chipper!" 

 Grandpa Watkins left quite a legacy!  He fathered 8 children, 42 grandchildren and 112 great-grandchildren (with more on the way)!  He is the son of a Senator,  served in WWII as an intelligence officer, was a Professor and Dean at BYU, served as a mission president TWICE, speaks 12 languages and has even written a book!  He has millions more other noteworthy qualities but for now I'll leave you with that.  You can learn more about him by reading this news article written a few years ago here.  I will definitely miss my Grandpa but we know he is so happy to be reunited with his sweet wife Ruth!  Until we meet again!

Cupid came to Visit!

We didn't do anything too big on Valentine's day but we do try to do something fun!  For most of the day it was just your average Tuesday.  For dinner we decided to get take-out from The Cheesecake Factory (hooray- no cooking dinner for me!) and a cheesecake, of course, for dessert to share!  We have kept on Zack's family's tradition of doing candy grams for each other and that is always something fun to look forward to.  Both Zack and I got lots of yummy treats along with a funny poem :)  It always makes me laugh.  Elise also got something but we thought that we should forgo the 10 candy bars and stick with a book instead.  Here is what cupid left behind! 

It was a fun evening for sure!  I can't wait for the future years when Elise is a little bit bigger and we can do more Valentine related activities!  It is always fun to celebrate the people you love.  I hope you and yours had a great Valentine's Day too!



Projects

It has been a while since I have made some projects so I thought it was time I get back on the horse!  A few weeks ago I got and email from a girl in my ward who was organizing a hair bow exchange.  If you have girls you know you can never have enough bows!  I was excited to participate :)  Here is what I will be bringing to the exchange! I'm pleased with how they turned out and I hope the other ladies will agree!

My next project is one that I think will take me a LONG time to do.  My goal is to finish it for Elise's 2nd birthday.  If it takes me longer than 10 months I think we will have a problem ;) 

Here it is!  I want to make a play kitchen for Elise!  I have seen so many ideas all over the web and have a bunch of ideas for this little cabinet!  I'm going to put a sink and stove on the top and with the cabinet I will have one be an oven the other I think I will have it be a mini fridge.  With the open slot I'm planning to put up a tiny curtain and that is where Elise can store all of her pots and pans to play with.  I can't even tell you how excited I am to get going and to see the end result.  The first thing I need to do is sand....ugghh.  The worst part!  Wish me luck! 

This play kitchen is my inspiration.  Image and tutorial found here.  Cross your fingers for me that mine can look at least half as cute as this one!

Caught in the Act!

It was quiet the other morning so I went on a search for Miss Elise.  Here's where I found her!

Needless to say, we have kept the bathroom door closed at all times!  Love that little girl!

Be My Valentine

For Zack,

"So won't you be my honey bee

giving me kisses all the time

be mine, be my Valentine"

XOXO

Wifey