MyLiege Elite Wilcox Hawkins

It was a cold day on February 18, 1977 when MyLiege Elite Wilcox entered the world with a healthy set of lungs, a full head of dark fuzz, red skin and black eyes!  She was so different than her two older brothers.  Also compared to her brothers she was skinny at barely 7 lbs compared to their 9 plus pounds at birth.

Back then we didn't get to find out what we were having, but I KNEW she was going to be a girl.  I don't think we even picked out a boy name.  For one thing I had different vibes in my body throughout the pregnancy.  I would break things, not by dropping them, but by just holding them.  I pulled a casserole out of the oven and the Pyrex dish shattered in my hands.  I picked up a frying pan and the handle shirred right off.  Glasses would break in my hands, too.  It was really weird.  I did the same thing when I was pregnant with Sierra so I knew she was a girl too.

MyLiege was HOPED for by Grandma Locken.  After she had 4 boys and only 1 girl (me), and then had only grandsons (5) she really wanted a little girl.  She was so thrilled when MyLiege was born.  Of course we all were thrilled when she was born.  Both of her brothers were very excited to have a little sister.  However, I really had to keep my eyes on Season, because he wanted to hold her and carry her around all the time and he wasn't even 2 yet.

She immediately lived up to her name meaning of "Elite and Royal Princess" and became the center of the universe.  We moved back to California shortly after she was born and Grandma and Grandpa Locken went right to work spoiling her.  Grandma Locken worked with a lady who had a baby girl just a few months older than MyLiege.  They were an older couple and were't going to have anymore children.  They bought tons of cloths for their little girl and then gave Grandma Locken bags full of clothes almost every week.  Some of the clothes had never been worn because they still had the tags on them.  Needless to say, MyLiege was the best dressed baby around.  They only draw back to having all those beautiful clothes was I didn't feel the need to sew anything for her for the longest time.  I don't think I made her a dress until after Sierra was born.

MyLiege has always been a very creative child.  She has a wonderful imagination and always kept us very entertained.  She had the opportunity to be in many plays starting with "The Safety Kids" in Primary and continuing on in Middle School and of course High School.  She also went into directing and had the opportunity to completely direct a play while in High School.  She continued in theater for several years after High School in various capacities such as assistant directing and costumes.  That part of her life moved to the back burner once she started having children.

She continues to share her wonderful talents in raising her children and serving in Church.  I am so amazed at all the wonderful projects that MyLiege does with her children.  They are always doing something creative and imaginative.  She is also a gifted writer and has shared many of her projects on her blog at http://smdstudio.blogspot.com/ so go check it out and see for yourself.

MyLiege is such a blessing to us and to all who know her.  She has a wonderful husband, Sean, and four (soon to be five) beautiful children, Djeryd (14), Erik (10), Anna (almost 8) and Alyx (almost 4).  She is due with number 5 (Elisabeth) in just a few weeks.

We are so glad that MyLiege decided to join our family.  We LOVE you!

Alyson Leslee Wilcox

Alyson Leslee Wilcox was born on January 25, 2002, the second daughter to Douhet and Kylee Wilcox.  She is my namesake.  I love her big brown eyes.

Alyson is willing to try almost anything.  She has lots of interests and is a big helper...at least to us.  I'm not sure her mom and dad agree with that statement as much as we do. lol.  She loves animals and does a good job taking care of them.  She is in love with horses and really hopes she can get a horse after the house is built.

Alyson started at the Charter school 2 school years ago.  She had a little trouble at first trying to catch up where she needed to be, but has worked hard and is doing great now.  I get to take Alyson and Audrey to the bus stop every morning and it is fun to listen to them talk about their school assignments.  They are both doing really well and seem to enjoy learning.  Laila too.

A couple of years ago, we had the opportunity to go to Disneyland with Alyson and her family.  Alyson rode with us almost the whole way to California and back again.  She kept us well entertained.

I have the privilege of teaching Alyson's Primary class in Church.  It is a VERY busy class and we have a lot of fun.  Alyson just turned 12 years old and so she now gets to go to Young Women's.  She is developing into a beautiful young women.  We love having her part of our family!

Karsten Ryan Wilcox

Season created the most clever announcement when Karsten was born.

Anyway, Karsten Ryan Wilcox was born on January 24, 2008 to Season and Sara Wilcox.  He weighed  9 pounds and 4 ounces and was 19,5 inches long.  That was almost exactly the same size as his dad!  I thought Karsten looked a lot like his dad when he was born.

Karsten is all boy.

He started playing soccer a couple of years ago and is doing pretty good.  Last October his parents took Madison to Utah to go to General Conference.  Grandma and Grandpa got to spend the weekend with the three younger kids.  Karsten and Brooklyn had soccer games and pictures.  Karsten had his BEST game ever and even scored a goal.  He was very excited!

He started school this past September and is doing very well.  I am very pleased with how well he reads.  He is a smart boy and a good helper at home.  We are very happy Karsten is in our family.  He is the fourteenth grandchild.

Karsten, we love you so very much!

Sean Paul Hawkins

Sean was born on January 15, 1975 to Paul and Carol Hawkins.  He said for the first week of Sean’s life he was known as John Donavon. He is not sure exactly why they changed his name to Sean, however, his father wanted his son named after him. Thus Sean’s middle name of Paul. When they were deciding on the spelling of Sean, they felt strongly to give him the Irish spelling, even though many of their family did not like that. When he was about 9 years old, his mother, in doing family history research, found out that they were Irish.

I first saw Sean while working with his mother at their home when I belonged to American Mothers.  Sean was home from BYU and working with his father and brother-in-law, Jason, on their family business, HawkSoft, Inc.  At that time is was just the three of them operating out of a bedroom upstairs.  Sean passed through to the kitchen to get something to eat.  For some reason I was very impressed with him and wanted my daughter, MyLiege, to meet him.  After he went upstairs, Carol and I talked about how we needed to get our kids together.  

Steve also had occasion to see Sean when he reported back from his mission.  Steve said he was also very impressed with him.

I mentioned Sean to MyLiege, but as teenagers go she really didn't want to hear about my suggestions for her love life.  She was trying to decided if she should serve a mission or not.  About this same time she decided to go to the Temple to see what the Lord wanted her to do.  After fasting and praying, she attended a session.  When she came home she told me that the Lord wanted her to get married and start a family.  I gently reminded her that if she was supposed to start a family she needed to date.  Again, she wasn't really interested in my suggestions for her love life.  She did say that she would have to be forced into a situation to meet someone.  She and I were serving as Stake missionaries at the time and we decided to use the "Set a Date" program to see if she could meet someone.  She picked a date and we started to do a family weekly fast.  She was immediately called to serve as the specialist for the Young Single Adults to organize the annual YSA conference.  Her first task was to put together a committee.  Sean was among a few others that were on the committee and the rest, as they say, is history.  (That is subject to another blog.)

It was clear to see almost immediately that Sean and MyLiege were meant for each other.  It wasn't long before he was a permanent fixture in our family.  Sean and MyLiege were married for Time and All Eternity on August 22, 1998 in the Portland Oregon Temple.  Their first child, Djeryd Teancum Hawkins was born on January 6, 2000.  Steven Erik Hawkins was born on August 20, 2003 and adopted by them in March of 2006.  He is a delight to our family.  Josephyne Annaliese Hawkins was born on May 6, 2006 and Alyxandria Brynn Hawkins was born March 12, 2010.  They are now expecting another baby girl, Elisabeth Christine Hawkins due in March of 2014.

Sean is a wonderful asset to our family.  He is a strong priesthood leader in his home.  He is a great husband and father.  And as an added side note for me, I can say he is a wonderful boss, as I now work for their very successful company of over 50 employees in Canby, OR.  

Djeryd had this tribute to say about his father.  "My dad has always been very supportive of me. There have been several projects where we start the night before its due and he's there to help. Sometimes we have disagreements and arguments but he really is an awesome person. In sixth grade we made a pyramid for history the night before it was due. It was big and the teacher loved it. That same year I made an aqueduct that worked and it still does. My teacher loved that to. Whenever I was in a situation where I didn't know what to do he was there to help me along."

Sean, we Love you!