Michael and Mallory: September 2017

Visitors

We were so blessed to have Grammy, Nana, and Papa come out to help take care of our family, be there for Madie's baptism/confirmation, and Amity's blessing. Words cannot express the gratitude! We are fortunate to get quite a few visitors out this way, especially considering we are so far away from family. We certainly made the most of it. Mal and I challenged Grammy to Scrabble (there's always a next time...I'm 0-19 against Grammy). Grammy bought all of the kids Hammocks...especially after watching Madie and Finn play in theirs, and Petya sat there on a log next to them...wishing she had one too. Grammy broke down and bought one for Petya immediately! That reminds me of that time we were in Saipan and Madie about burst into tears after she didn't get ice cream, then Grammy ran to get her some. The kids know that their Grammy and Grampy love them.

Nana and Papa came out a couple of weeks later, and were a huge help. Papa helped me on a few home improvement projects, and even almost loaded an entire dumpster full of the fallen shed in our backyard. We talked through some home improvement projects, and got some ideas. We went exploring on some rocks in Acadia, and played a ton of mini golf and ate ice cream. Nana took Madie birthday shopping, and made some meals that I grew up with. We challenged her to Qwirkle and Yahtzee, and fared much better. Overall, the most important thing is that they were there, and that means the most to all of us. The kids will certainly remember this visit and all of the fun things and conversations they had with their grandparents.

Madie and Amity share a big day

Madie's big day happened on Sunday August 27, 2017 at 7:30 am. Leading up to her baptism, she wanted to be baptized in the font at the church. Mal and I kept trying to persuade her to opt for a pond or the ocean for at least the last year. She can be pretty stubborn. But then, Mal suggested to Madie that it would be better for the earth if she was baptized in a natural body of water. That's when Madie decided that she was okay being baptized in a pond! She chose Lakewood Pond, in Acadia National Park. Madie is now officially on the short list of people that have been baptized in a national park. Amity was in attendance, but she was sleeping in her car seat the whole time, so she didn't make it into any of our photos. Both Grammy and Nana gave opening/closing prayers, Papa gave the talk, and I did the ordinances. Leading up to the confirmation, I asked Madie who she wanted to help confirm her a member. She told me Robert Baird, Bishop Erickson, Papa, Jeff Waldrop, and myself, of course. Thank you to all that made this happen! The photos were taken by Jason Barrett, and were quite spectacular. They looked like moments from the 19th century. So cool!

We left for church shortly after the confirmation, and after the social time. Amity was blessed during sacrament meeting. Those that stood in the circle with me were Craig Rand, Mike Riggs, Papa, and Bishop Erickson. She was very calm during the blessing, which is her personality. Mal and I did a special musical number during sacrament meeting, "I'm trying to be like Jesus", with the acoustic guitar. It was the Watkins show at church.

Remembering Grandma Clark

Amity was born the morning of August 7th. After she was safely nestled in Mal's arms, I headed home to relieve Julie Axtell who had been staying with our kids all night. I got the kids squared away on a play date, and made a couple of phone calls to close family members before taking a nap and prepping the house for Grammy Conner to arrive. One of the family members I called was Grandma Clark. We spoke briefly, mostly to notify her about Amity. She was very pleased to hear the outcome, and that everyone was happy and healthy. Little did I know, Grandma would pass away sometime in the next 24 hours. Thankfully, she passed away peacefully in her chair.

I flew out to the funeral and took Madie and Finn with me. The timing of everything was pretty crazy with just welcoming Amity into the family, but thankfully MariLou had just arrived and was able to help Mal and the girls while I flew out. Years before her death, she had nearly every detail of her funeral planned, from who would speak at her funeral to who she would want to attend. She even set aside a large sum of money to ensure all of her family would be present. She wanted us to reunite as a family one last time to celebrate her life.

Grandma was always so patient, respectful, and loving. She loves being organized, and had a pragmatic approach. She really took the time to get to know each of us grand kids, and loved to visit. My favorite memory of grandma is her cooking. If she was expecting us for a visit, we could count on a warm soup being ready when we got to Grandma and Grandpas. I remember putting down at least 12 of those chicken biscuit things during a single meal! Pancakes shaped into letters of the alphabet, French toast. And desserts, don't get me started. Ice cream roll, brownies, and my favorite: Oreo cookies. Growing up in CA, I didn't get to spend many Christmas's with Grandma and Grandpa, but I do remember those being particularly exciting with Grandmas cooking. Lots of treats and goodies to eat. All of these memories of Grandma and her cooking warm my soul. She did it all for love.

It was a lot of fun catching up with family that I hadn't seen in years, and learning more about Grandma's life. She was a great woman, and lived a very good life. She was always faithful to the gospel and to her family. It was interesting to bring Finn and Madie along and get their impressions. Madie was impressed by Grandma's homemaking skills. Finn was happy to see family. It was a very quick trip, but we were happy to be together as a family. That's what she wanted, and I think it went pretty well. Towards the end of the trip, we worked together as a family to take a few things from Grandma's house to help us remember her. The kids took some pretty random and ridiculous things, packed in a brief case.

One blessing that came from Grandma's passing was that we got to see Grampy Conner. The kids hadn't seen him since 2014. The kids got to wrestle around with him a bit, which was mostly welcomed. At one point, Finn said, "I don't wrestle with fat guys!" He was pretty intimidated by Grampy's large stature. Madie, on the other hand, was loving it. She warmed right up to Grampy, and loved to wrestle him. On a side note, we had carne asada tacos at Levi and Raquel's. I ate 14...that should tell you how much I loved them!

Killian and Finn

Madie and Grampy

Watkins cousins unite!

We were happy that Grandma could be reunited with Grandpa. She lived a great life, influenced so many in her family with her shining example, and it deserved to be celebrated.