Spring 2026

Annual Ice Storm

Our annual ice storm hit on a Saturday evening this year, so we got Church and Monday's school canceled. We had a great time playing in the ice the last weekend in January.

Elementary Dance Party

The PTO hosted a fun dance party for Valentine's Day weekend. Katelyn had a great time with friends, and I volunteered and helped with the pizza distribution. 

Collin's Last Piano Recital

After 12 years of piano lessons, Collin gave his last recital on Feb 17th. He was the grand finale again and did a wonderful job playing the Military Polonaise by Chopin. He will still play for fun and compose when he has time, but he won't be taking formal lessons for his senior year. Bittersweet.

Collin's Robotics Team

One of the reasons that Collin is stepping away from piano lessons is because robotics takes so much of his time. He was the captain of programming again this year, and the team made it to the State Competition! They haven't made it to States since he was still in middle school. They were so many long nights, early mornings, and weekends away. One more year! Go Coll!

Ethan's Band Concerts

Ethan tried out and made the District All-Star Band. He had to keep up with the regular 6th grade band requirements, as well as the extra songs and practices for this special group. He had a bunch of songs to learn and just as many concerts. He loves the saxaphone and plans to continue playing. Go Eefie! 

Katelyn's Choir Concerts

Katelyn sang in the school choir again this year. They sang the national anthem at the Spurs game on March 6, as well as lots of other District and school-wide concerts. She has really enjoyed it!

Brennan's Track Meets

This year was Brennan's first year in high school track. He ran a mixture of long distances for the JV team. He'd run either the one mile or the 800 meter and the 2 mile or the 400 m. The most exciting part was that he won the District 800m! Lightning feet. Go B!

Mom's GATE Showcase

My students did their annual showcase of projects on April 30th. The older students (Katelyn included) studied ancient civilizations and modern infrastructure and created utopian destinations, and the younger kids studied animal adaptations and created their own animal. The parents were pleased with their work, so that's a win for me.

Project Hail Mary Premiere

Last Thanksgiving we listened to the book Project Hail Mary while driving to and from St. George. We were so excited to go together to see the movie priemere on Fri, Mar 20th. Unfortunately, we had a group of obnoxious women in the row behind us, but we bought it later to stream it as often as we want!  

Easter Walk

Sigh. Thankfully, another Easter Walk is behind us. Last year I delegated the work and basically skipped the whole thing. This year I felt guilty and pretty much did the whole thing, with the supreme assistance of Ryan and the kids. It was held on Fri, Apr 3rd (Good Friday), and we spent Thursday evening and Friday evening at the church. Next year will be my last year as RS President, so then we can skip the whole nightmare.

SAFC soccer game

We went as a family to a minor-league soccer game here in San Antonio on Fri, Apr 11th. We had second row seats right behind the goal, and we had the best time! Unfortunately, the game ended 0-0.

Ethan's Soccer Season

Ethan played Rec soccer this season. He even earned the Golden Glove Award on Sat, May 9th, given to the goalie with the most saves in the season. Go E!  

Katelyn's Club Soccer

Katelyn played Club soccer again this season. She's the star center defender, just like her momma was. In May, she tried out for this coming year, and it was a TON of drama. Since she has a late Aug birthday, they wanted to move her down to the U11 A Team. The main reason was that she doesn't play on Sundays. The coaches hate having to find subs for her for those games. Anyway, then we found out her bestie's little sister was on that team, so we begged for a spot on the U12 B Team, so at least she was with girls in her grade, albeit with a lower skill lever. Then a player declined her spot on the U12 A Team, and they offered the spot to her! In the end, she is on the same team with all the same friends. What a tender mercy! Way to go, Kate! 

Collin's AP Research Presentation

Collin took an AP class this year where he researched and presented about a topic of his choice. Of course, he learned about the history of some programming languages, and then created his own on Mon, Apr 27th. The final score was 25% presentation and 75 % research paper, and he got a 5! Go C!

Ryan's Master's 2.0 Graduation 

Ryan graduated... again! This time he got a masters in data analytics for Texas Tech's business school. The program was all online in the evenings, and he worked his tail off the last two years. He and I took off work and drove up to Lubbock on Thu, May 14th. It was fun to celebrate just the two of us. We drove home the next day. Go Ry!

Katelyn's 5th grade Track Meet, Party & Graduation

Katelyn had a great last week of elementary school. The Saturday before, we went together to get our nails done. Tuesday was the Track Meet at the high school. She had a lot of fun. Wednesday was the party, complete with water slides, foam dancing, and pizza and paletas. Thursday was the graduation. She got to sing with the choir. Yay Katelyn! And that's a wrap on elementary school for the Williams! 

Bring on summer! 

Summer '25

Swim Team

Ethan and Katelyn swam for Splash at TMI again this year. They both specialized in breaststroke and freestyle, but each tried some butterfly and backstroke as well. Ethan even did one 50m race! (For their age, they only usually swim 25m.) Katelyn ended up getting 2nd place at Championships for 9yos in the 25m breaststroke, and I was super proud of her. 

Cross Country

Brennan ran about 30 miles per week all summer with the high school cross country team. I dropped him off each day at 7 am. No sleeping in this year for me! 

Wisdom Teeth

Collin had his wisdom teeth out on July 3rd. It kind of ruined the holiday for us, but it had to happen sooner or later.

ClutterFree PhD

Last summer, right before getting my GT job, I was hired as a home organizer. I did all the training, met everyone, did one job, and... quit. Anyway, I didn't want to lose those connections (I really enjoyed it!), so I subbed in on a couple jobs this summer. 

Reading

Have I ever written about my read aloud tradition with the kids. I still read aloud to all my kids! This summer we read Unbroken - Jr Edition, The Giver, and The Legend. Great conversations! 

Six Flags 

We went to a couple nights of fireworks and a couple days at the water park. Always a good time! The boys are all really into roller coasters now too, so Ryan is grateful to have buddies to ride with. Katelyn and I stick to the train and carousel.  

Futsal

Katelyn played an outdoor coed 5 v 5 turf soccer season. No practices. One hour every Wednesday evening to improve ball handling. She was on the Real Madrid team, and they won the tournament. she loved it! 

Water Polo

After swim season ended, Ethan started a one-month water polo camp. He practiced for an hour every Tues & Wed evening and had a game each Thu evening. It was great fun, but he's decided he likes soccer more.   

YMs Adventure Leader

Ryan was called to organize some fun activities for the YMs. Since we have a deacon, teacher, and priest, it basically means he takes all our boys to do stuff, and Katelyn & I stay home. ;-( They kayaked the Llano River one Saturday, overnight camped on the beach at Mustang Island, and did a lake day at Inks. It has kept him very busy, especially since he's still traveling for work and in his second year of his data analytics master's program through Texas Tech. 

RS President

Our ward this summer was... a lot. We have divorces, financial catastrophes, a family of refugees, cancer, legal problems, and even the death of a young father. We also had move-ins and move-outs. I don't think I could have done everything that happened this summer during the school year, so I'm grateful - once again - to be a school teacher with the summers off. 

Abilene

Right before school started, we headed up to Abilene to say goodbye to Collin's friend Dylon who is headed on his mission to Mexicali, Mexico. We had a bunch of fun with our friends the Gentrys. All our best, Dylon!