{"My name is Tagan Hawker and I am 1/2 Bajan...

We just got back from a pretty fabulous family vacation to Barbados. My father was born in Barbados and lived there until he was 14 years old. This was our first family trip to see the "home land." The running joke the entire vacation was that the Berry kids were 1/2 Bajan... we even attempted to fit in with the locals by working on our tans and our accents. Needless to say we weren't very successful! The people were so friendly (minus the airport!) and always willing to help us find our way around the island. The beaches were my favorite part of the trip. We stayed on the east side of the island which is the windy/rough side. We usually had a gorgeous white sand (that felt like brown sugar under your feet) beach all to ourselves! Here are some snapshots of our favorite beaches...

The Crane Beach, Foul Bay Beach and Beachy Head were our favorites.


These are some pictures we took around the island, they are mostly places dad remembers from his childhood...


We decided to take advantage of the fact that we were all together in a gorgeous location and have some family pictures taken...

We are a crazy Bajan bunch!

{The month of May and M.I.A...

I have been missing in action... My entire spring and early summer has been completely devoted to girls camp! Ahhh!! It's going to be so much fun, but I'm sure my family is ready to call it quits. I've been more than frustrated a few times myself. Our theme this year is "O Be Wise" from Jacob 6. Once girls camp is over, I'll have to post all the details because no one should have to start from scratch!!! I'm working with the best women in the world and count my lucky stars every day for them!

This weekend we were able to take a breather with the Kimball's and Utah Hawker's in Steamboat Springs. It was so nice and relaxing and very much needed! We hiked and swam and just enjoyed being away from home!

Now, it's back to reality... ONE MORE WEEK and then I can breathe again!

{Happy Mother's Day...

Mother's Day is a day that is full of emotion for me. I think of all the women that have touched my life over the years and made a difference in my life. I think of Young Women leaders, aunts, grandmothers, my Mother-in-law, my sisters-in-law, good girlfriends and my dear sweet birth mother's. My heart breaks for them as I watch my sweet boys growing so big. I am ever grateful to them for bringing them to this earth and placing them in our home. I of course think of my own mother. I love my her! I love her for raising us in the gospel. I admire her testimony, her strength and her ability to connect with people from all walks of life. I love her for always making things fun at our house! From "dance party / chore Saturday" to our late night talks after a date or night out with friends. A holiday never went by in college without a sticker laden box or package. Now her role has changed to helping me figure out how to be that fun mom. I appreciate all the advice and creative ideas that are ever flowing in her mind! (I don't know how she sleeps at night! She's always dreaming up the next big event). She is one of my dearest friends and greatest blessings. Love you mom! -If I were in Loveland today I would probably tickle your feet for a set of Lee Press On Nails!


Happy Mother's Day!

{Feelin' Lucky...

to have friends like these...

Last night was my turn to host TLC. What a hoot! I feel so blessed to be surrounded by women who are fun and know how to kick back and have a good time. There have been periods in my life when I haven't had that and so I just have to say I LOVE these ladies! (and many more but these are the only pics I had on my camera). We shared beauty secrets and played like teenage girls until the "wee hours of the mornin'."

We were taught how to apply false eyelashes. Here's an action shot... one eyelash on and one off!

My beautiful Sister-in-law, Alicia.

One of my "co-hosts" for the evening (thanks Cori for a super fun time!)

J.B. nothing but good vibes comin' from her!

Buffy knows how to work the camera... this was just one of many gorgeous "glam" shots of the evening!

Valarie is a natural beauty (and a rockin' yoga instructor!)

Kelly moved in a little over 6 months ago and I just love being around her. What a fun addition to our little group!

{S'mores Cookie Bars...

We had our first stake camp meeting this weekend (Yay for camp!) and I figured a camp meeting without S'mores was no camp meeting at all. So, short of building a fire in the backyard I found this recipe on the internet and it was a big hit. Just thought I'd share it for anyone looking for a fun new dessert for FHE or for this summer when your kids want to 'camp' in the backyard!

1/2 c butter, room temp

1/4 c brown sugar

1/2 c sugar

1 large egg

1 t vanilla extract

1 1/3 c flour

3/4 c graham cracker crumbs

1 t baking powder

1/4 t salt

2 king-sized Hershey's bars

1-7 oz jar of marshmallow fluff (or I substituted mini marshmallows and it worked out fine too)

Preheat oven to 350. Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with Pam. in a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and vanilla. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined.

Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan. Place chocolate bars over dough. Spread marshmallow fluff over chocolate (which is next to impossible, hence the mini marshmallows!). Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until lightly browned. cool completely before cutting into bars. Makes 16 squares.

{First Grade Valentine's Party...

Jackson: "Mom, you made my Valentine's last year, this year I want to make my Valentine's."
Me: "Okay Jackson, what do you want to make?"
Jackson: "robots"
Me: "Oh, fun" (and I'm really thinking 'Seriously? HOW are we going to make robots?')

So we talk to grammies and she points us in the right direction (like always!), we head to Safeway and this is what we came up with. There was some hot glue involved but Jackson was the brains and most of the elbow grease behind his Valentine's this year. I love that Jackson is my crafting buddy. I think we're two peas in a pod that way!

...and thanks to my dad for this super fun lollipop tree that he made for me a few Christmas's ago! It made our Valentine's treats a breeze to display!

{Knock off Wood...

I love, Love, LOVE this blog! Knock off Wood. I ran across it a few weeks ago and found myself inviting a few friends over to make Ana's version of PB Kids Collector Shelves. We modified the size and added some routing to make them look a little more like the PB version and they turned out SO cute! I have to say that for a bunch of girls that haven't ever worked with power tools (I think I qualified as the most experienced and I have really only used Todd's miter saw for a cut or two) that we did pretty good for ourselves! They came together fairly easily and will hopefully be as useful in our kids rooms as we have imagined.

After I painted and stained my shelves I was inspired to make Jackson a dry erase calendar for his room using my vinyl (if there is any interest, I may add them to my BNB blog). Hopefully I can move Sam into his "big boy" room by the end of the summer and give both boys' rooms a makeover. Nothing like a few little projects to get me motivated to switch things up around here!