Dish Washer Friend

Lydia feels really confident lately. Nothing is out of her reach. She can crawl quickly to anything that interests her, get to her knees , reach for something to pull up with, then shes on her toes. The Dishwasher is one of her favorite attractions. I'm sure the clanking dishes of the dishes is her cue to rush over and "help" me out. She can now unload nearly as fast as I can load the dishes in. I am afraid that one time she is going to pull out the breakable plates and bowls and throw them on the floor like she does the plastic ones faster than I can stop her. She's a determined little one. I love it when she gives me a big grin when she knows shes's been caught in the act.

Spring Training 2009

Once again we made our yearly pilgrimage to the baseball field. Hot Dogs and Hamburgers at the tailgate and a fun trolly ride over to the field are fun traditions that we look forward to . This year it was the Angels vs. the San Fanscisco Giants. We left early so we are not sure who won, but since I wasn't rooting for either one specifically--everyones' a winner. The cooworkers that came with Shayne were huge Giant's fans. They had a lot of fun baseball tidbits to share which helped make the game interesting.

Lydia did excellent on her first baseball game. Luckily we were seated on the lawn instead of the bleachers. She was able to crawl around and be wiggly. That's pretty tough to do on Dirty metal chairs.

Each year the boys stay interested in the game a little longer. This iyear the cracker jack treat was the big entertainer. Thank goodness for the treat inside. They folded the little piece of paper for an hour over and over.

2 Big Thumbs up for Makutus Island

As a family we celebrated Austin and Riley's birthday at Makutus Island along with and a bite to eat at Rainforest Cafe. We made it a Jungly 7th Celebration.

I am now a huge fan of Makutus Island. Austin showed us his NO FEAR side where as Riley became even for afraid of heights.

Kevin was Austin's climbing buddy going through every possible tube, tree and slide. Austin's favorite slide was the big Banana slide. Each time they crawled through a clear plexiglass tube 25feet above the air Kevin admits he was a bit freeked out whereas it didn't phase Austin a bit. There were very few dads climbing around with the kids. Kevin felt proud that with some manuvering and acrobatics he could actually fit through the kid size pipes and slides. He realized that climbing up and down in and out was alot of work. I think he is going to be tired and sore tomorrow. Thanks for being a good sport Kevin

Check it out www. makutusisland.com

Next it was on oto Rainforest Cafe for a bit of their famous Volcano Cake. The jungle theme, moving animals and fancy cake sure helped make this birthday memorable.

http://www.rainforestcafe.com/

All I Want For My Birthday is My 2 Front Teeth..

Wow within a few days we went from having all our teeth to missing our 2 front teeth. It was kind of a dramatic experices for our little Riley. More blood than last time he lost the bottom teeth. I am surprised how within a day Started talking with the TH. Right after he lost the tooth he talked really normal so I thought Oh maybe he won't have to talk goofy. But sure enough his toung had forgotten where to stop and is now putting TH's on the end of all kinds of words.

AAHHH The Joys of Being in 1st Grade

7th Birthday With Our Friends

Austin and Riley are huge fans of LEGOs. Well what 7th year old kid isn't. So I decided to make a fun cake for the boys this year. I though this cake design turned out super cute. when trying to decide which color frosting to make Austin wanted Red and Riley chose blue so we made two cakes to accomodate their choices. Riley wanted Chocolate cake and Austin Vanilla cake. Afterall they are sharing a birthday they should be able to have their OWN cake right. The joys of being a twin. They are definately not identical twins in any way.

With so much cake to eat....We decided to quickly invite some of our friends to enjoy it with us at the park. A beautiful day at the park in February. We couldn't have asked for a better time. Good food, good friends and good weather.

Zachary Mc, Malia W, Tanner Mc, Frederik A, Austin, Nicolai A (not pictured Bryn C)

(Sorry we missed taking a picture with you Bryn we loved having a fellow LEGO lover come celebrate with us.)

What a great gift to be surrounded by so many friends that truly LOVE us :)

Stephen Anglen and Austin Digging for treasures in the sand

Riley's Loosing Teeth...

Before

This front tooth has been dangling there for nearly one month. we tried several methods to extract the tooth but to no avail he was stuck looking goofy. We tried biting on a starburst candy hoping when he opened his mouth the candy would reveal a big front tooth. Wiggling with the fingers only loosened a bit. My personal favorite extraction method was wiggling the tooth with the hand of a lego starwars guy. The cuped hand fit just right on the edge of the tooth, then I had a good grip and i could wiggle it really good. There was only a little crying and whining, but I was having fun being the makeshift dentist . Although all this playing around was fun there was not going to be a visit from the Tooth Fairy that night.

After--- 2/2/09

This is how it finially happened. On the way home from school in the back of the van Riley was frustrated with Austin and started to solve the problem his favorite way...BITING

I guess he forgot he had one lame tooth and his chomping power was down by one, because when he tried to take a big bite out of Austin out came the tooth. :)

The Queen of OUR Castle

There is no question about who Rules the roost around here. It is Queen Lydia. She loves sitting upon her Royal throne (the high chair) telling us ALL what to do.

I can't help but submit to her squinty smile

Our schedules revolve around her, our playtime involves her and the boys can't resist taking her out of bed each morning to say hello. Wen she squaks we say how high :)

I'm sure this behavior wont last forever but for now we will just let her think she's in charge

Like many of you, I am a Fan of General conference. Each day when I choose to read a new conference talk I become more and more amazed and in greater awe in the men and women who are called to lead this church at this time.



Sister Dalton's talk "A Return to Virtue" lifted me up today. You will have to read it for yourself and see if you get a spiritual boost too.

http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=7c464bb52a73d110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&hideNav=1



After she described what virtue is and why she hopes now more than ever we seek for it and live virtuous lives she wrappes it all up. I love the very last paragraph the most.



"I testify that a return to virtue is possible because of the Savior's example and the "infinite virtue of His great atoning sacrifice" I testify that we will be enabled and strengthen no only to do hard things but to do all things. Now is the time for each of us to arise and unfurl a banner to the world calling for a return to virtue. May we so live that we can be instruments in preparing the earth for HIS second coming. "that when he shall appear we shall be like him,.. purified even as his is pure"

SURPRISE-Lets go to LEGO LAND

I was very impressed by Kevin's Spontienity last weekend. He was scheduled for a 3 day weekend and knew that it would be several weeks until he would have another break. So last minuet we booked a hotel room, clipped 2/1 coupons out of the Boys Lego magazines and off we went. We kept it a secret from the boys. while driving them to school we told them the good news. It took them a few hours to get their head wrapped around the idea that they were actually going to LEGOLAND!!

We had a great time. It was neat to finally see what it was all about. Defininately a great park for 3-7 year olds. The rides are simple. There's a splash pad and little lego play spots all along the way. Austin and Riley loved the factory tour. They are all about learning how things are made. I was really proud of Riley for riding some rides that looked really scary to him at first. Little by lttle he is starting to over come his fear of high places.

January was a great time to go.... short ride wait times!! and Beautiful weather. 78 degrees.

Thanks dad for a super fun weekend.

Our little Sweet Pea-LYDIA

The other day we took Lydia for some pictures. I was plesantly surprised how cute they turned out-seeing how earlier that morning she was on a crying fit and wouldn't take a nap. I had planned it out perfectly and thought that our "great day" of napping the day before would carry over. Here is a looksie.

Smiling Santas

On christmas I took a candid snapshot of all the kidos. It turned out so cute. Lydia has been super smily lately

2008 Christmas Traditions

Over the last few years I have tried hard to decide what to make OUR Williams' family christmas traditions. I've tried new activities each year. Some have been a lot of fun and so we have continued to squeeze them in each year. Here are a few of the activities that bring us together as a family this time of year.

Decorations, treats, caroling, lights, shopping, receiving christmas cards, writing our family card...santas lap...

1. Delivering and making treats for our friends and family.

This year the boys and I wrapped upcookie dough sticks with a note that said "Everyone can use a little extra "dough". We delivered it with a Christmas carol (this was a new addition to the tradition for us)

2.

Dipping pretzels in chocolate

Its a simple thing but it so fun and easy

3.

Making gingerbread houses. Last year I learned from a friend how to bake my own gingerbread and form it into little houses that everyone can decorate individually. I love seeing how creative Riley and Austin can get with the candies. I was really proud of how they turned out this year. They are becoming more decerning about and very artisitic.

4. New Wrapping paper and ribbon each year. My favorite wrapping idea this year was festive colored tulle--tied like Ribbon. I put it on every thing!! and loved it .

5. Decorating the house

Putting up the christmas tree the day after thanksgiving is our tradition. Austin was my little decorator this year. I had to give up some "control" about how the tree was decorated-which ball here and how to sting the garland....The tree turned out just how he wanted it to. Candy canes everywhere!! and the star on top.

Since we don't have snow in Arizona, hanging these snowflakes in the windows makes it feel wintery

I love my Banister. being able to hang a beautiful garland and gaze into the lights in the evening really bring the Christmas Spirit

6. Christmas Lights

Mesa Temple lights are some of our favorites. We can always feel the spirit while on the temple grounds. We love to see variety of nativities each year- Austin's favoirte were the one from Alaska, China and Denmark.

Arionans get pretty creative with hanging their outdoor lights :)

After thinking about what my favorite events were from this year the list became longer and longer. We have so much to be grateful for. I is fun to reflect on our many blessings