Hawkins Family Reunion

The Hawkins Family Reunion was in Utah this year. It was Ron's year to plan it, and he really wanted to go to Hyrum and Logan. It meant a lot to him to go to where Grandma Betty and Grandpa Doyle grew up. Matt came from Arizone, Pam & Don came from Texas, and Ron & Diane, JJ, Hailey, Wendy & Dave, and Josh & Veronica came from California. Luckily all the Lepak's and Lindsey & Mark live in Utah with us Ham's now. 

We met at South Fork Thursday evening for dinner and hanging out. It was the perfect place to gather, and everyone had a nice time.

Tessa had gymnastics, so she and Paul left early. Al, Mel, and my parents met us there early so the kids had time to play before Tess had to leave.

I loved seeing my kids get to know Ron. They thought he was so fun.

It was fun to see them play with Tasha's kids too.

Friday was the Cache Valley day. Matt drove Al, Mel, and me up to Logan. We ran into Pam and Don at a rest stop where we stopped to use the bathroom. Then we saw them a few minutes later in the stall next to us at Sonic. :) Running into relatives at a soda stop was a very Hawkins thing to do. Ha!

We met everyone at my mom's cousin Jeff's house/museum. He lives in an old LDS church that he's turned into a museum to hold all of his treasures. It was hard to understand exactly what this museum was from just hearing about it beforehand. I figured that once I went there, I'd be able to explain it. Honestly, after being there and walking through the whole thing, it's still hard to describe it. :) He has collected and bought really cool artifacts. He's made all sorts of things: life size characters from shows he enjoys, death masks of all sorts of people, paintings, etc. He has all sorts of bugs, bats, rocks, elements, stamps, books, etc. There's a lot of his family history. Essentially, if you can think of it, he has it somewhere in his museum. 

This is the ceiling of one of the bathrooms in the house.

Jeff is my grandpa Doyle's sitster Karen's son. Doyle and Karen were very close. After lunch, Jeff led us to the house that Doyle and Karen grew up in.

Ron read from my grandpa's history about how he and his dad and siblings used a horse to dig out the basement, and built the house together.

It was very cool to see it, and to see pictures of Grandpa standing in the same place we were.

We had a little bit of time to kill after that before heading to Hyrum, so we stopped by Elijah's house and met his new girlfriend. Then we stopped at Gossner's and bought some squeaky cheese. Those always remind us of Grandpa since he loved them and would buy them any time he passed through Logan.

We met back up with everyone at the Hyrum cemetary. We found Karen's gravestone and Grandma Betty's parents'.

We were all getting back in our cars to leave when I noticed Elizabeth Bradshaw's gravestone. She is my fourth great grandmother, and one of the ancestors that we have learned about all our lives. Her story is told in the movie Ephraim's Rescue, and told at Martin's Cove. When my dad and I were Ma & Pa on trek, we were so excited to hear the missionaries share Elizabeth's example of great faith while crossing the river there.

Her son Samuel Haigh's gravestone was next to hers. I've learned a lot about her daughter Sarah Ann Haigh and all the people she carried through the river at Martin's Cove. Now I want to see what I can learn about Samuel.

We met at my great aunt Bonnie's house for dinner. This side of the family is Grandma Betty's family. It was fun to see my mom reunited with her cousins that she used to play with as a child. We went to Hyrum a handful of times as kids, and we all remember the parade down Main Street. Bonnie (and Karen) were on the city council so it was cool to see our relatives in the parade. It was fun to be back and appreciate the landscape of Hyrum that Grandma always missed. She loved all the farmland and wide open spaces.

Saturday night we had dinner at Lindsey's house. Rockwell wanted to come with me and see everyone again. Dinner was delicious and it was fun to visit with everyone for a while. We all watched a video of Grandma talking about her life from a reunion about 9 years ago. Jason decided to record her, and Ron & Diane found the video as they were going through Jason's things after he died.

It was nice to hear Grandma talk, and to hear Jason's voice on the video too. I sure miss them both! Ron, Pam, and my mom all said a few words about how grateful they are for the Hawkins family. It's interesting and moving to see how much family means to people after losing a child. I'm very glad I was able to go to this reunion. So many people commented on how great it was to see each other at a gathering different than a funeral. We've all gathered for too many of those over the last few years.

Julia and her family showed up right as we were about to leave. This was the first event they were able to make it to, so we ended up staying longer and visiting with her. We were laughing about how old we are as we introduced our sons to each other and said, "This is your cousin!" :) We loved that they talked the whole time we were talking!