Family Pictures 2008

This past Saturday we finally found some time to get out, during the day, and take some new family pictures! Of course, that was the day it snowed everywhere and got really, really cold. I was determined not to let this daylight go wasted and when the kids woke up from naps and it wasn't snowing any more we called my sister, Tracy, over to take some pictures.

The first few we tried inside the house and they turned out okay, but I didn't want just Christmasy pictures of our family and I like outdoor shots the best, so we loaded into Tracy's van and took off to find the perfect location.

The kids freaked out when we got out of the van. First because they were so cold and second because the cows behind us were mooooing and the kids thought that the cows were going to get them! You would think we've lived pretty rurally for most of their lives, but I guess they haven't actually been close to the animals before. This is what we were fighting with. . .
Besides some teary eyes and fake smiles, the shots were okay.

The one that I actually chose for Christmas cards was the one below. However, I ordered them wrong and won't be getting them until the day before Christmas, so if and when I get them I will be sending them out late. So, you might get a Christmas card this year and you might not, but either way I really tried!!!

Merry Christmas everyone!! We love each one of you and are grateful for your friendships!
Love, The Williams Family 2008

Welcome Baby Lewis!!

We are so excited! My little brother, Jared and his wife, Casi had baby number 3 and their first boy, Lewis David Wright yesterday at around 5:50pm. We went to see them at the hospital tonight and he is the cutest little boy ever!! He was 8 pounds even and 20.5 inches and he has loads of brown hair! When we saw him tonight his hair was in a mohawk and it just suited him perfectly!

We only saw him for a few minutes and then they took him to get circumcised, so all of these pictures were taken right after he got back from that - poor thing. He wasn't too happy, but we were glad to get to spend some time with them and to take some pictures for everyone to see. I am sure Casi will blog some super cute pictures when she feels up to it.

Way to go guys!! He is the cutest thing ever (and he looks just like Casi's family to us)!




I know some of the pictures of Jared are funny, but Lewis is a cutie!!

Jake's Surgery

For those of you that have weak stomachs (MOM) this is a warning of some post surgical pictures, so you might not want to look ahead if things bother you.

Our dog, Jake, is almost 11 years old. We got Jake just a few months after we got married back in 1998 and he is an amazing dog! We have people tell us all the time that if we need to get rid of him that they would very happily take him for us! Bump is going to have a very hard time when Jake passes on, he is a big part of our family.

Anyway, Jake has had some fatty growths on different parts of his body for a few years and the vet assured us that these are very normal and most dogs get at least one. He had a large one on his back for quite awhile, but over the last few months that one on his back has gotten quite large. We knew we needed to take him to the vet but it was just time and money that we haven't had lately, so we put it off.

We determined last week that we would take him to the vet this week and see what was wrong with this huge growth (it was the size of my fist). Well, by Wednesday morning we still hadn't taken him. I noticed that his growth looked kind of funny, like it was growing more and so I determined to get Bump to take him in the next day and I was going to call him after I took Gabby to preschool. Well, when I went to take Gabby to preschool and let the dog outside for the morning something was definitely not right. Jake's growth had completely popped and he had yellow pussy goo running all down his fur. Eeeeewwwww! I don't deal well with gross dog things, especially when I don't know what is wrong. So, I made him stay outside and I called Bump to get an appointment.

Anyway, to make a long story short. . . we took Jake into the vet yesterday and he spent the day. The vet said that it was some kind of cyst that can be caused by just a blocked pore or something small like that and that it has gotten larger and was very infected (yes I feel incredibly guilty about that). So, we had her remove what was left of it and clean everything out. While he was under she also clipped his long toenails, lasered a "rice crispy" from his eye, pulled (or filed down, I haven't checked yet) 2 broken teeth and also cleaned his teeth thoroughly. Jake is like a new dog now - or at least he will be when he heals up. He had to have 11 staples put in his back and he's on pain killers and antibiotics for 10 days. She said that Jake actually looks really great for his age and I think Bump was happy to hear that!

He was pretty ticked off at Bump when we picked him up. Bump actually had his parents pick Jake up from the Vet and then we got him last night. He didn't want to go out to the car with Bump. I think he didn't trust him not to take him back to the vet! Today he seems to be doing pretty good and we are happy to have things fixed! I have some pictures of his big ouchy on his back, don't look if it bothers you. I wish I had taken some before pictures, but I don't thing you would have really wanted to see it - especially after it popped! Yuck, it made me sick!

He needs a hair cut and so he looks a bit shaggy, but he is a great dog and we are glad that things are okay now!!



Yes, Jake's spots are even on his skin - isn't that cool??

15 years later

Bump and I were talking the other day about how lucky we were to have such amazing friends in high school. We hung out with a really great group of people. They all had good values and helped to lift each other up and were amazing examples to everyone.

I had some especially wonderful girlfriends and I am going to embarrass any of them that read this blog by posting our senior pictures from the yearbook. I hate mine and I am sure the girls aren't really in love with theirs either, but they are all beautiful girls! (sorry I couldn't adjust the pictures so that heads weren't cut off)
Yesterday Marisa had us all up to her house for a pot-luck lunch. We brought our kids that weren't in school and had a really great time catching up! It's been 15 years since we graduated from Woods Cross High School and all of these amazing girls are still strong. Each are happily married mommies and so full of life! It doesn't seem like it was that long ago that we were hanging out in the halls at school or going to stomps on Friday nights. We missed Megan and Mara and all of our other awesome friends, but it was so good so see everyone that could be there again.

I honestly don't know where I would be without such great friends. These were (and still are) my peers and I couldn't ask for better examples to follow. When you think about how many people are divorced or have fallen into bad habits or made some really poor choices, and then look at how our close friends have remained strong, you realize how lucky you really are to have them! And how lucky I was to have them during the tough emotional times in my youth! Thank you for being such great girl friends!
Karisa's little daughter was kind enough to take this picture for us, so sorry for the head chopping, but it was nice to have everyone in the picture. These are about half of the kids that we had there and there are several more in school and 3 that are not born yet (congrats Cassie, Angie and Natalie)
The kids had a blast playing down in the basement and I hardly saw them! My kids love to meet new friends and it's always fun playing with new toys!

Christmas Decorations

After a wonderful Thanksgiving at Bump's brother's house we decided to get busy and decorate our house for Christmas! I had a specific look in mind and wanted to keep with the age and style of the house. It is simple, but we love it and have had good comments from neighbors.

We put garland all around our new fence (you can't have a picket fence without decorating it can you?) and a few bows for color. We hung wreaths with bright red bows on all the windows except the bay with the Christmas tree. And our Christmas lights consist only of candles in each window. We fell in love with this look while we lived in Vermont and decided that our house was just made for the Vermont look. We might still do a bit of tweeking, but we are really happy with how it turned out.


We also had the chance this year to put up our Dept 56 Dicken's Village. This has been a collection started by Bump's parents and they handed it down to us to continue. We add a new piece each year. This is the first year we have been able to put it up since we had kids. The kids just love to look at the lights and all the little people and to watch the skaters on the pond. It's a fun thing to have and we were really excited to finally put it up.


Our stocking are hung and the tree is decorated - well sometimes the tree is decorated - I have to re-decorate it every day as the kids pull each ornament off and I find them all over the house. But, we are still loving our old house and it's so fun to have it decorated for the holidays!! Merry Christmas everyone!

Happy Birthday Bump!

Yesterday was Bump's birthday and it was a pretty relaxing day. The kids were so excited to give their dad his presents (that they wrapped themselves) that they didn't even get dressed first.
Out of the gifts that I got Gabby chose this retro transformers t-shirt because it has a rainbow on it.
Corban chose this Mr. Bump t-shirt and it was probably Bump's favorite one! He also got a game holder that looks like an old-school Nintendo controller for all of his video games and some warm and fuzzy Crocs.
We had a good roast with mashed potatoes and gravy for dinner and then had birthday cheesecake for dessert (Bump's favorite) topped with fresh strawberries and chocolate sauce. Mmmmm good! Happy Birthday!!

33 Reasons Why

Since it was Bump's 33rd birthday yesterday I have decided to tell you 33 reasons why I love my awesome hubby.

1. He is my best friend

2. He is a wonderful father to our kids

3. He makes me laugh

4. He actually agreed to marry me

5. He is passionate about his humidifier and very specific about the "right type"

6. He is genuinely liked by everyone he meets

7. He is very positive

8. He is a happy person

9. He is incredibly good looking

10. He enjoys working on "projects" with me (ie. our house)

11. He treats his parents with respect

12. He takes his church responsibilities seriously and fulfills his callings happily

13. He can carry on a conversation with anyone for any amount of time

14. He is a wonderful fly fisherman and great guide

15. He is really good at video games and it's fun to watch him play or to play with him

16. He is an excellent kisser. . . and more

17. He makes any situation more fun just by being there (ask anyone he works with)

18. He is kind and really "feels" other people's pain

19. He is very even tempered and it's hard to make him really mad

20. He smells good

21. He is clean and loves a clean house

22. He likes my parents and actually likes to hang out with "the in-laws"

23. He loves a good t-shirt

24. He makes me want to be a better person

25. He has a love of weird or quirky movies (ie. Army of Darkness, UHF, etc.)

26. He is a morning person and has a hard time sleeping in

27. He has an amazing imagination and can tell great stories, especially to the kids

28. He is very artistic and loves to sculpt

29. He loves the outdoors and would be the best to have around in a survival situation

30. He has really good taste - in decorating, clothing, food, me, etc.

31. He loves sports and is a great basketball player

32. He loves dogs and has a keen sense of what makes a good dog and knows how to train them

33. He is the most wonderful husband and treats me like a queen

Happy Birthday Bump! Here's to many, many more.

Meeting Santa

We woke up on Saturday morning and were having a lazy day after spending Friday decorating the house for Christmas (I will post decor pictures later). I looked outside and noticed people lining up along Main Street waiting for something. Well, since Grantsville is the parade capitol of the USA I quickly told the kids and Bump to get their coats on because there was a parade coming and we needed to get out front to watch it.

What a great surprise to see loads of police cars and fire trucks coming toward our house and who was on that first antique fire truck? "The Real" (according to Gabby, since he had a real beard) Santa and Mrs. Clause! And since we were the only ones right in front of our house Santa waved right at our kids and told us to come and visit him down at the fire station. Santa was followed in the parade by Miss Grantsville and her attendants and even a couple of floats that threw out loads of candy to our kids. We have a big Walmart Distribution center in town and they had a big semi-truck and people following throwing out candy. Since there was nobody else around us at all the kids didn't have to fight for candy and we ended up with almost as much as the kids collected for Halloween (dang it, I just got rid of all the Halloween candy)!

I have said it before, but I will say it again, I love living on Main Street! We would have missed Santa completely and the kids were so excited about seeing him and the rest of the parade.

Well, we ran into the house and I did the girls hair and we headed down to the fire station to tell Santa what we wanted for Christmas. There was a pretty long line by the time we got there and normally Bump and I would have left, but the kids were determined and so good that we decided to wait it out. They had some coloring tables for the kids and I waited in line while Bump took the kids to color. They also had loads of cookies and hot chocolate for everyone to eat. The fire department did a great job with the whole event and the kids had a great time - even waiting for 2 hours!!! Yes, we were pretty much at the end of the line.

It was worth it for the kids and we were glad that they had such a great time!

3 kids in a cupboard

I was doing the dishes a few mornings ago and the kids were all playing really good together. When I went to see exactly what they were doing I found them all together playing in the antique cupboard. They were having a great time and I took the picture because it won't be long until they can't fit in there any more. It's times like this that you just wish they could stay small and young and innocent.

Rivalry

Bump's work had a competition on the Friday before the BYU/UofU football game. He works in an office that is dominantly U of U fans and they all give him a really hard time about being a Y fan during football season. They don't "get into" things very much at his work and Bump decided to go all out for this and have fun - even if he would be the only one in blue. I painted his face in the morning and all the kids wanted their faces painted also. So, here is Bump with the kids (and we had Tera's kids for the weekend) all with BYU painted faces.

After he left for work he went and bought some additional accessories -an indian headdress and an arrow through his head- and this is how he looked at work all day.
The same day at preschool Gab learned all about indians and their role in our Thanksgiving history. She made a little indian costume and was so excited to have a matching costume with her dad. Too bad the Cougars couldn't pull through for us, but we definitely did our part in cheering them on!!

Too busy . . .

I know it's been forever since I've posted and I have no excuse really except that we haven't done anything very exciting to post about. I enjoy getting a quick peek at your blogs when I can to see how things are with each of you, but just haven't taken the time to write myself.

We are alive, nobody is sick, life is good and things are busy!! After this week is over I am sure I will get a chance to post again!! Thanks for keeping up on your blogs at least!!

Halloween Fun!

Halloween was sure fun at our house this year! In the morning Gabby had a preschool party and then a costume parade down main street. She dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood and got to wear her hair in curlers the night before and wear make up with her costume. She said that she looked beautiful.

Corban and Quincy waited patiently for the kids to walk in front of our house. Corban wanted to wear his costume also!
Here is where Gabby goes to preschool. It is right across the street from our house, which is so convenient! They combined the 3 year old class with the 4 year old class for the Halloween party and parade. They walked out the front and down the street for about a block and a half, then crossed and came down our side of the street and back across to the preschool. The police showed up and helped with traffic to help all the kids easily cross a busy main street.
Then last night Bump stayed at home to give out candy and I took the kids out trick-or-treating. Like I said before, Gabby is Little Red Riding Hood. Corban went as a Sea Turtle and Quincy was a Strawberry (Thank you Tricia and Tera for the costumes!) We walked around our big block and got lots of candy and met some of our neighbors! One of them (who we knew already) even let Gabby use their bathroom. Corban, on the other hand never said a word to me about needing to go and had an accident in his costume right before we made it home (Don't worry Trish, I will wash it!!)
We ended up having a great Halloween! The kids were finished trick-or-treating by about 7:00, they ate some candy, brushed their teeth and were in bed on time!! Woo hoo for us! Hope yours was a good one also!!