Summer time is always full of activities and lots of fun things going on. I returned home from Arizona just in time to have lunch with friends. We enjoyed seeing what the Family History Center at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building has to offer and made trips to China and Shanghai before I boarded a plane to travel to Portland to surprise my daughter, JaneAnne, who was turning 50. My daughter-in-law also was celebrating her birthday the same weekend, so there was a lot of partying happening.
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| Mary Kaye, Ginger, Ann, Jean, Me, Trell & Janie in front in Shanghai |
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| Climbing the Great Wall of China the easy way |
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| Surprising JaneAnne on her birthday morning! Glad she was up! |
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| Taking a walk with Julie in her neighborhoos |
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| Dressed to party! |
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| JaneAnne with her delicious cake |
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| Loved the green I observed as I walked one morning |
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| A very wide tree |
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| Birthday lunch with Julie, John and Emily |
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| Emily and Julie |
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| At the movies, "Wonder Woman" |
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| Delicious Hood Berries |
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| We made several batches of strawberry jam |
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| Love my Emily! See you in a few weeks! |
Not long after returning from Oregon, I was able to attend the 60th Anniversary Celebration for long-time friends from Salem, George and Ewan Mitton! Their granddaughter made the cake and the topper was the original one they had used so many years ago! Amazing!
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| George, Ewan & Me |
Next on my docket for activities were a couple of family reunions. All of my immediate family (minus married couple, Jake and Kenzie Peterson and Joseph Peterson, on a mission to Ukraine) were there and it was so much fun. We had a group campsite at Bryce Canyon and camped for three days. We enjoyed hiking, views, good food, games, campfires, including s'mores and some great singing, and great company!
Thanks to Sue and Alisa for organizing everything. Such fun!
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| Beautiful Bryce Canyon |
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| Tosh, Leif, August, Kiefer, Hewitt playing darts |
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| Our campsite at Bryce, dusty, warm, but fun! |
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| S'more making w Tosh, Kiefer, and Liv |
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| Everyone did their own dishes at the washing station JaneAnne brought; August does great |
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| Julie, John and Me |
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| Rob & Truman exploring our campsite |
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| The family off on a hike |
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| Children enjoying the view |
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| Thor's Hammer and Sue |
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| Alisa and Sue enjoying some hiking at Bryce |
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| We hiked, and hiked and hiked! |
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| View to bottom as we were hiking out |
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| Taking a breather |
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| Jana and Alisa keeping me company |
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| The hiking group, kids and grands |
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| Beautiful scenery along the way |
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| Hewitt and Kiefer enjoying the cool of the crevice |
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| Getting there slowly |
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| Grandkids on a ledge |
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| Hiking helpers |
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| So beautiful |
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| Getting near the top |
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| Views |
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| Berit working on her Junior Ranger Badge |
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| Beautiful scenery with Anna and Hewitt on the Queens Garden hike |
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| Truman has a great way to travel |
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| Another hike with Alisa, Jana and Sue |
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| No Words necessary |
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| Rob and Truman |
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| Family embarking on a wonderful bus tour of several sites |
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| So sweet, finally napping |
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| An arch carved out of the mountain |
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| Peterson Family as we were leaving Bryce Canyon |
Next stop on our "Reunion" trip, was Zion's Ponderosa Ranch near Zion's National Park. We met up with the Watkins side of things for a Cousins' Reunion. It was so fun to see everyone and there were over 70 of us, so a lot of craziness. Those in pretty good shape were able to do some canyoneering, which they all agreed (those who went) was an experience they will never forget. Some of us took jeep rides or went swimming. We all participated in the variety show, played some bingo, some late evening games, and ate a lot of good food. My brother, Bob did a dutch oven dinner for all of us and I was really impressed as he had all the pots and it was delicious. We celebrated a couple of birthdays, Jana's on the 2nd and Emily's on the 3rd.
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| Happy Birthday, Jana! |
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| Canyoneering |
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| Goggled up and ready to jeep ride for Emily's birthday |
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| View from top of our ride |
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| Watkins Family 2017 |
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| Watkins Siblings, Me, Kathi Nelson, Julie Parker and Bob |
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| Cousins in birth order from 51 to 31 |
Cousins are Kirk Nelson (oldest and from farthest away, South Africa), Lisa Parker Haggerty, JaneAnne Peterson, John Peterson, Brian Nelson, Jana Peterson Maughan, Rob Peterson, Kristine Nelson Collier, Allyson Watkins Bushman, Melissa Watkins Holyoak, Alisa Peterson, Jennie Parker Garafalo, David Watkins, Sue Peterson Andelin, JP Parker, Dominique Nelson and Annelise Nelson.
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| Just my kids in their Reunion shirts: Sue, Jana, John, JaneAnne, Rob and Alisa |
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Making Dutch Oven lasagna: Patti, Julie, Peggy, Kathi, and Allyson
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| Sisters and Sister in law: Kathi, Me, Julie and Peg |
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| Feeding the masses, a lot of "cooks"! Yeah! |
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| Playing Bingo at the Patriarch |
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| Kiefer examining his bingo prize |
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| Alisa sporting her bingo prize mustache |
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| Late night game of Club 7 |
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| Alisa and Jennie enjoying s'mores |
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| Kristine and Angela of the Nelson Clan |
The last day we were there, we took the time to go and explore some in Zion's National Park. We enjoyed the beautiful scenery, took a shuttle ride, hiked to the lower Emerald Pools, and waded in the river. It was hot!
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| On the shuttle to Emerald Pools, me and Kate |
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| The "gang" at the end of our hike to the pools |
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| Some of the gang in a little clearer photo |
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| Wading in the Virgin River; the cool felt good! Some of the Maughan crew |
Family is the best and it was so great to be in such beautiful places to enjoy our time together. But summer isn't over, so more fun yet to come, I'm sure. Happy summer to everyone!
