Alex Turns FIFTEEN!

This kid! This young man! Alex turned FIFTEEN this year! 

I know I am his mom and therefore love Alex unconditionally, but seriously, Alex is a wonderful son and an amazing young man. For his birthday, I took Alex out to our favorite place--Diced, a place to get awesome salads (and Alex is a big fan of salads!).

This is from my social media post--a better collection of pictures of Alex throughout the years. 

We did allow Alex to celebrate his birthday with friends this year--just a couple of days before his actual birthday. Alex usually loves big pool parties with as many friends as can come but this year we needed to keep the numbers down. In fact, most of the party activities were outside at the park--it was a fun Scavanger hunt prepared by Katya. Then everyone came back to our house for dinner which was Chinese. 

Alex did wish for a traditional ice cream and cake, so that’s what he got. 

And here are a few pictures with his friends. Alex and Kyla. 

Alex and Emma.

Alex and Alora (who gave him this rowing shirt:))

Alex and Graydon.

Alex and Kai (who gave him this ball of yarn and Alex had to unravel it to get to the present itself:)).

And Alex and Remi. 

We didn’t get a picture with Alex and Miles and he had to leave early!

On his actual birthday, Alex requested some waffles with whip cream and Nutella (don’t believe it was leftover from Katya’s birthday;)). 

And for dinner, Alex wanted to go to Mi Cancun for some easy Mexican. 

Birthday boy with Katya and Mark.

Free chips and salsa before dinner gotta be their favorite part. 

And then we got home to open a few gifts! 

Toblerone, microphone, slides and a massage gift certificate were just a few of the things that Alex got. In fact, he is just always grateful for whatever he receives, which is such a nice quality to have! 

Alex is an example of why I have hope and faith in our future generation. He works hard at school, helps around the house a lot, possesses great social skills and confidence, stays organized and is a great friend to many. His creativity in piano playing and singing is inspiring and refreshing--we love listening to him play at home or perform on the street. Although lately, watching YouTube videos at lunchtime replaced his usual reading books at lunchtime, he still loves reading and likes to relax that way. Alex has a lot to look forward to in the future but knows he has to work hard to get it--but his optimistic outlook at life will, hopefully, help him. We are grateful every day that we have a great son like Alex.

Last but not least, annual "check up":

Height: 6' 2''
Favorite sport to watch: basketball
Favorite sport to play: rowing
Favorite book: Boys in the boat
Favorite movie: Stardust

Hobbies: piano, singing, basketball
Future profession: president (!)

Happy birthday, Alex!!!

 

Family Reunion in Kentucky!

 Here is a perfect cover picture for our story today! 

And what a crazy adventure we had PLANNING this get together. Originally, during the Thanksgiving get together of 2019, we all had decided to go to Nauvoo for a big Watson family reunion. We had picked a house and were making plans when Covid-19 craziness started. Needless to say, we cancelled a big reunion and then decided to get together as Georgia, North Carolina and Ohio Watsons, somewhere in the middle.

And do you know what is sort of in the middle of all of those states? Kentucky and Tennessee! 

We had fun picking a central location and settled for a nice location in KY. Who knew that state resort parks could be so nice and convenient? Here is where we stayed--Pine Mountain State Resort Park.

We all stayed at different places--James and Michelle and family had a two bedroom cottage, Brian and Lindsey had something more like a hotel room and we had this rustic cabin.

It was indeed rustic but cozy and well equipped inside (shower and a kitchen). Unfortunately, we forgot the bed for Mark so we had to make a makeshift bed for him in the living room out an arm chair and the ottoman. It worked:) We tried to hang our hammock but couldn’t find an ideal place inside without being scared for the whole cabin to fall down-haha. It was in perfect secluded location though and we got a warning from the front desk lady to watch out for bears.

Well, our first day together started with a longish 1.5 drive to the lake in Tennessee actually! We rented a boat and spent the whole day on the lake.

Look at the whole group! 

The bros--James, Robert, Brian.

The SIL’s--Michelle, Lindsey and me. 

Well, you know how lake days go... Lots of boating, playing, eating.

Here are Katya, Everett and Madi. 

Katya’s favorite older cousin.

William, Bentley, Alex and Mercedes. 

Oh, that’s us again. Quick note, this was on July 9th and on June 26th, I tore my ACL as I was playing tennis. I didn’t know until my MRI results on July 8th that I actually injured my knee. Kind of crazy. And look at me, I was not icing anymore, actually walking and limping and in a bit of uncomfortable state, but I was living life as fully as I could! I didn’t go on the tube but I did go swimming and it felt great!

This is the picture that started the tag “of boats and goats” because apparently there was a goat near this cave. 

Beautiful Katya! 

Mark and Alex.

Our handsome almost 15 year old who definitely looks older. 

Alex and Mercedes.

Markovka, who loves to live a thrilling life.

Bentley and Mark having a ton of fun!

Alex and Mercedes again (because they seem to be closest in age).

Sometime, after a packed lunch on the boat, we docked for a bathroom and ice cream break. 

And then we were back in the boat for more adventures.

Boats still make me nervous, to be honest, but the kids just love them, so we go along with that. 

The next day we took a pleasant 2 mile walk in the woods (I can’t believe I did that without an ACL 10 days after the injury!!).

The trail was pretty empty but we definitely looked like a big group of people. 

And the obligatory height-order picture of the cousins.

And age-order picture:) Alex is the outlier. 

Robert showing the boys a centipede that smells like cherries.

We also had some pool time at the “resort” although it was a bit chilly at first. Alex and Carter.

Katya and Everett.

The big boys played a bunch of card games eating Grandma’s brownies. 

Sunday was the day to check out and say goodbye. But first we got together for a Sacrament meeting. 

We even had some primary singing time with Brian’s puppet. 

Grateful for these wonderful Watson brothers and their super wives. 

Here is a fun picture😆😆😆!

I love that we were able to get together! 

Look at this bunch! I really hope we’ll be able to get together soon! 

On the way back we stopped by at the border of KY and TN and VA. Kind of crazy that such a spot exists. 

Technically, we were in VA.

Beautiful look out point. 

And so our family reunion was a definite success although less than half of the family members were able to get together. I recognize the need for more frequent family gatherings as life is short and we need to keep to strengthen our bonds.

Lyana.