Summer in Utah - part 1

We were able to get a group photo while waiting for the fire department to declare the building safe for the BYU production of Princess Academy. Evidently, the fog machines got a bit out of hand which caused the fire alarm to go off which required an evacuation of the building.

Cami, Maya, Emma, Samantha, Lucia, Erika, Jessica, Kara, Kate, Kellie, Mom, Kimber
Becky, Kylie, Hailey, Andie

Erika went to Lucia's house to spend the night with Maya, Emma and Samantha and they stayed up all night long . . . seriously, 5am!

Those of us who stayed at Kellie's house weren't any smarter. We stayed up until 3am playing 7 Wonders.

Something happens when we get together and we forget that we are not youngsters anymore.  Church at 9am reminded us rather quickly.

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My wonderful aunts (mom's sisters) put together the Ormas and June Hawkins Reunion in Salt Lake.

Carol, Colleen, Kathy, Pat and Val put together a wonderful carnival for the kids where they could earn tickets to buy prizes.  The kids loved it and came home with many treasures.

For the adults, they had baby pictures of Grandma and Grandpa as well as all of my mom's siblings and we had to guess who was who. Then we played Family Reunion Bingo and learned many fun details about our grandparents, aunts and uncles.

Brooklyn's purchased treasures.

Bingo and Darts


My aunts have made wonderful scrapbooks of their growing up years and they had them out for us to look through.  While Kate and I were very caught up in the past, I found some real treasures that I have never seen before.

Grandpa Hawkins up a telephone pole. He was such a quiet, calm, hard working, loving man!

Grandpa Hawkins with his mother, my Great Grandma Hawkins.

We have always said that Derek gets his height from Grandpa Hawkins but it wasn't until I saw this picture of him in his younger years that I realized how many other features Derek inherited.

Not only did he inherit the Hawkins height but the same teeth and thin upper lip; hairline and ears; broad shoulders and long arms; and as Derek ages I imagine him looking more and more like his grandpa. Derek also inherited Grandpa's mellow temperament and a mind for fixing and building things.

Grandma Hawkins holding me (about 20 months old), my mom in the middle, Aunt Kathy holding my brother Joe (about 6 months old). This is one of the few pictures I've seen of my mom with long hair.

My dad playing dominoes with our exchange student (Derwin Velarde).  I would have only been a couple of years old and I have only seen my dad play games a  few times in my life.The tinsel overloaded Christmas tree and the wild fabric pattern of the chair really take me back to another time!