Christmas Tree

For date night this week, Dan and I bought and decorated our first real (well I guess it's fake) Christmas Tree. It took us way more hours and way more trips to and from stores than I will admit to find the right bargains and style, but we did it! We now have a tree for our first Christmas that we'll spend entirely at Wymount. I tried to research how to decorate Christmas trees online but came to realize it's one of those artsy things that is foreign to me. So I just copied what I saw others do.

Thanksgiving!

We had Mom and Dad Watkins, the Jensens, the Boyds, and Tanner all in town for Thanksgiving weekend! It was so much fun! We realized that this would be one of the last times in a few years that we would have that many people from the Watkins family together. We missed Rex and Natalie's family in Wisconsin.
Making Thanksgiving dinner in Wymount Apartments was an adventure! But, everyone pitched in and I think it turned out pretty good! Notice the turkey name placards created by Ali.

On Friday, we ate at Pie Pizzeria in SLC and couldn't eat half of the one pizza we ordered for all of us. It was huge! We saw the Christmas Lights on Temple Square. It was beautiful.

On Saturday, after eating a gourmet breakfast at the Cannon Center--it really was delicious...thanks Tanner--we went up to Bridal Veil Falls.

That afternoon we did blacklight mini-golf at Trafalga. Dad won with Anthony and Dan one point behind. The highlight was Ali chasing her ball into the pond in the middle of the course!
We also played DDR. Dan, Tanner, and Holly were the champs, but everyone was able to hold their own! We met Grandma and Grandpa Erickson at Olive Garden in Salt Lake then played games at the condo and had mounds of ice cream at Leatherby's.

At church on Sunday, everyone helped out in the nursery! Wendy beat us all soundly in Settlers that night. And all too soon everyone left us the next morning. Thanks family for making the journey--we love you all!

Trunk-or-Treat

We had a ward trunk-or-treat tonight that I was not prepared for. So, 20 minutes before the trunk-or-treat I called Mom asking for fun ideas on decorating trunks. I had some Halloween "stuff" from my classroom and after Mom shared some fun ideas, Dan and I came up with this:

(Ignore the cobwebs. I'm horrible at hanging those things--and I procrastinated, so I didn't have time to play with them.)

The kids came to the trunk and said, "Trick-or-Treat." Then, the lights went on in the haunted house (Dan turned a flashlight on) and candy came out the front door. The kids were amazed! Poor Dan was cramped in the trunk...he is truely a saint!

In hindsight we would have had a signal for Dan so he knew whether to throw the candy out the door or to extend his hand with a piece of candy in it. The little boys loved grabbing candy out of Dan's hand and wanted to keep coming back. But, one little girl wasn't sure where this hand was coming from and I think would have appreciated seeing candy fly out rather than having to take it from a hand.

Anyway, it was fun to see all the little kids try to figure out the phenomenon, but next year I will be more prepared and my cobwebs will look better!

Happy Halloween!

Being pregnant over Halloween is kind-of fun! I stole some costume ideas from others online and tried two of them out today. We had a Halloween party with the Long side of the family. It was fun to see everyone again! I went as a basketball and Dan as a basketball player. Andrea and I are both having baby boys in January--our due dates are only one day apart. So we had to get a picture of her pumpkin and my basketball belly.

Before trying the basketball, I tried to make myself into a fishbowl. Dan didn't think anyone would know what I was, so I bagged that idea...but not before we got a picture of it.


Halloween can be fun!

It's a Boy!

It's been a couple months since we've posted anything! We found out a few weeks ago that we're having a boy! When I had the ultrasound our little boy wouldn't stop moving. The technician had to chase him around to get all the measurements she needed. But the best part was that right as she was finishing up the last couple measurements he laid back in a reclined position, put his hands behind his head, and fell asleep. (Check out his little elbows in the picture). We're in for some fun with this little one!

Canoe Trip

Isn't it beautiful?! South Carolina has this little national park called the Congaree. It's the largest remnant of old-growth floodplain forest on the continent. On Saturday we went with two other couples in the ward on a little canoe trip down this creek.

We're getting ready to launch!

The Hobbit Tree! This hollowed out water tupelo tree was near where we stopped for lunch. But, similar trees were all over the park. I couldn't believe that a tree that had been eaten away like this could still be living, but it was going strong with green leaves. The spikes around us are the "knees" of the tree. They are part of the tree's root system. Cool, huh?

Quilting

In high school I pieced a couple quilts with Mom, Grandma Erickson, and ladies in the ward. So with the time I had this summer, I tried it out on my own. I'm still learning the art, but it's fun. The tumbling block quilt is all pieced, but I still need to add one more border, put on the backing and batting, and machine quilt.

A Step Back in Time

We visited the Levine Museum in Charlotte which had an exhibit on the reconstruction of the "New South." It was neat to see how the South transformed it's economy and really it's entire society after the civil war. We tried on clothes at the "new" Belk Department Store (Dad's suit is my favorite) and visited the barbershop.

Andy Griffith's Mayberry

Until we arrived in Mt. Airy, I had no idea that this was Mayberry, the hometown of the Andy Griffith Show and where Andy grew up. When we learned this, Tanner and Dan whistled the theme song as we drove through the town. Their rendition rivaled the version playing over the loud speakers on main street. I'm not an Andy Griffith follower (in fact I don't think I've ever seen an episode), so it didn't bring back flashbacks like it did for Mom and Dad, but it was fun to hop back in time for a few minutes while strolling down the street and to see the old shops that apparently were in the show.

Nascar Racing

North Carolina is Nascar territory, so we had to visit the Nascar race park. I was the official photographer given my new, very exciting condition! Here are some fun pictures of the race. I think we finally decided that Mom and Dan were the winners. They hugged the curbs and would stop at nothing to win! On the last lap Dad bumped Tanner and sent him into the tires to wait for an attendant to help him out. It was payback for Tanner's earlier grievances against Dad. Holls was delightful to watch as she just took a leisurely drive through the track (you can see her in the 2nd picture)!

Mt. Airy Family History

The Haymore family (my Grandma Watkins' maiden name is Haymore) has roots in Mt. Airy, North Carolina in the 1800s. So we took advantage of how close we were and visited the family sites.

We saw the house my great great grandpa grew up in and in the trees next to it we found the family cemetary. It was quite an adventure searching for it. All dressed in our Sunday clothes (I was in heels) we weed wacked our way through the trees and brush to a little gated overgrown plot with headstones. Once we found it, we realized there was a gate on the otherside. So we weed wacked out, and this time let the guys weed wack back in through a different route to reach the gate and get some good pictures of the headstones.

It was neat to see where we came from and hear the stories from Dad. Boy am I greatful to my ancestors. It was my great great grandpa Haymore who was the first member of his family to join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He joined in Mt. Airy and moved to Utah. I'm so glad he saw the truth and jumped at the opportunity and then passed it on to his posterity (me :)! Thanks family!

Our Safari

The Watkins family came to visit for the 4th of July. What a great B-day present! We went to this place called Lazy 5 Ranch. It's like a drive-through zoo. You get a few buckets of food and drive through this ranch filled with exotic animals. The animals come right up to your car and eat out of your bucket. It took me a few minutes to get used to the idea. I saw horrific scenes in my mind of toes and fingers being chomped off, but we all left in one piece.

One of the highlights was watching Tanner feed an ostrich. If you know Tanner's lack of love for birds you know what a great accompishment this was.

Also, Daniel getting in a fight with some sort of giant goat over a bucket. I was laughing so hard I couldn't snap any pictures...too bad. We thought Dan would be pulled from the van or the goat would join us. In the end, Dan did win and somehow managed to keep the bucket that the goat had clenched in his jaws. It was quite a fight!

Mom's driving was entertaining! The zebras and giant ostriches were a little big for her to handle right as we entered the park and we saw just how quick Mom can step on the gas peddle.


We left with a car filled with dust, dirt, and animal feed. It was delightful!

Land of North Carolina

We've ventured east and are in the land of North Carolina for the summer. We love it! I wouldn't mind if the hot, humid weather cooled down a bit, but otherwise it's beautiful. Dan is doing an internship with Metso Power while I'm quilting, reading, and preping for the school year. It is a great life!

It just so happened that I had my camera on me when we stopped by Dan's office to pick up his jump drive. I documented his home away from home. His cubicle needs a little decorating, but he insists the bare walls are fine.

And we're back!

We took a little time out from blogging, but my enthusiasm is renewed and this time with lots of good news!

Snowmobiling with the Watkins

Dad Watkins came into town this weekend for meetings and we took advantage! We all went up to Logan for a family get together. Aldon pulled out the snowmobiles and Dad hopped on with suit and all. Holly and Rob helped Lincoln finish his snowman. We love family!

Dance Dance Revolution

Dan and I practiced our dance skills with our friends the Belmontes on Friday. We held our own, but Isadora eventually took us down.

Christmas in Ohio

For Christmas '08 we had the whole Watkins family together in Ohio and Pennsylvania. It was wonderful! The pictures are from the Cav's game (they won!), an amazing exhibit in Pennsylvania (Sports Works), tram ride, and our stop at IKEA.

Welcome to the Foster Family blog!

We're trying to catch up with the technological world. We love looking at our friends' and families' sites, so we thought we'd try putting our own together.

Quick Update on our Family:

Dan and I are still in Provo. Dan is studying Chemical Engineering at the Y and I'm teaching 3rd grade in Spanish Fork. We are loving this season of life!