Father's Day

Ryan always has conferences for work in June, so Father's Day is always sandwiched among his trips to and from the airport. This year he was gone Monday - Friday, only home Saturday and Sunday morning, and then left again Sunday evening through Thursday.

Anyway, Father's Day was busy and rushed with getting his laundry done and repacked for the next trip.

Ethan and Kate were both sick, so I stayed home with them from church. I'm assuming Ethan's absense from this photo is because he was in his jammies.

Ryan got a hammock and a Camelbak water bottle for this summer's vacations.

We sure love him and are so glad he's our Dad... And we are sooo glad his trips are done until October!

St George

As soon as school got out, we headed to visit my parents in St George. We left after church on Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. It was a long drive, but the kids slept alot, since we didn't get in until almost midnight.

Memorial Day morning we got to see my brother and his wife who had been visiting. It was fun to see them, even though it was short.

After they left for their drive home, we went to a park called Thunder Junction. It has a splash pad, kid train, tree house, zip line, etc. It was crowded but super fun.

The next day Ryan and Collin got up at 5am and headed to Zion's. They caught the first shuttle and hiked Angel's Landing.

We met them later after a short walk of our own and had a picnic before heading back to St G. 

My parents offered to keep the kids overnight, so one afternoon Ryan and I headed to Las Vegas. We got tickets to see Mystere, and we stayed the night at the Venetian. We ate dinner at a little Italian restaurant in St Mark's Sqaure, and after the show we got gelato and other sweets to enjoy in our room. We even went swimming in the morning before heading home. When my parents lived near us in IL, we used to get away like this from time to time. I hadn't realized how much I had missed it. It was a great little getaway.

While we were gone, they took the kids to Snow Canyon, which the boys are begging to return to. I guess it is all the awesomeness of Zion's without the long drive and all the crowds. Perfect!

Another day we went to the river and dug in the sand and walked in the current. The kids played on the playground nearby too. I love how much fun they each have in the water.

One morning Kate, my mom and I went shopping at the outlet mall (we don't have a Gap here anymore!) while the boys all went to the dinosaur museum. I think we all had fun in our own way.

Each morning we were there, I went to water aerobics with my mom and dad at their clubhouse. It was super fun. I've been doing P90X each morning for about 3 months, but it was still a good little workout. The instructor gives lots of modifications for each exercise so that the participants can tailor to their own needs. Ryan makes fun of me for liking old people things, but I can't help it. I'd love to live in one of these old people communities some day.

It was CRAZY hot each afternoon (over 100F), so my mom thought to put water in some tubs for the kids to play in on the back patio. She also had some squirt guns that they loved.

It was fun to see my parents' new house. They love their neighbors and seem really happy. I wish it wasn't so far so we could go more often, but we are hoping to head back again for Spring Break.

We drove home all day on Sunday. To get some wiggles out, we stopped in Vail. They had this fun playground to play on. I think we'll always stop here.

Last Day of School '17

Brennan

Brennan finished kindergarten on Thursday, May 25th. We took some pictures before school in the morning. During school, they performed a kindergarten celebration, and he read a part and sang a bunch of cute songs. Each kid also got to share what they want to be when they grow up: tech teacher. (Only one who said that too!)

Afterwards, we went to lunch at Freddy's and got ice cream.

He's had a great year. He has lots of kids that consider him their best friend, but he still says his best friend is Collin. (By some strange coincidence, 2nd grade and kindergarten overlapped morning recess.) I think full-day 1st grade will be a little bit of a hard transition for him in the fall (less tv and alone time), but he loves being with people and staying busy, so those parts will be nice. He is very smart, and his reading, writing and math are all above grade-level.

His teacher and classmates adore him. He is funny and loves to tell jokes. He loves to sing and dance and run and play. He also loves his scooter and two-wheeler bike. He attends a weekly art class at the rec center as well as karate. He seems happy with both.

Collin

Collin finished 2nd grade on Friday, May 26th. We took some pictures before he left in the morning. During school, they played games and fooled around before getting dismissed before lunch. Afterwards, the neighborhood had an ice cream block party.

He's had an ok year. There's been some bullying again, and about half of all his recesses he spends alone. He isn't athletic - I blame my genes! - and that is particularly hard with boys. He has two boys - plus Brennan - that he hangs out with sometimes. One has severe behavior problems and spends 90% of the school day in a solitary classroom, and the other is just different. He is a good, sweet kid, but he struggles socially. He also struggles to manage his time, so he rarely gets his work done at school. He seems to understand everything - tests above or at grade-level - but he never gets anything finished. It is hard for me to see. I push him so hard, but sometimes I wonder if that only makes it worse. I wouldn't call this the best or the worst year; it just was.

He loves his scooter and riding his bike. He is super fast and coordinated when he rides! He is a good helper around the house, and I'm looking forward to having him around more. We read Harry Potter #1 last month, and now he's working on #2 by himself. He's read a few Hardy Boys too, and he still really loves non-fiction. Ryan got him a Lego Mindstorm kit about a month ago (computer programming a lego robots), so they spend a lot of evenings together doing that. He loves piano, Cub Scouts and Karate.
                         And now we begin Summer 2017! 

Mother's Day

Mother's Day with my monkeys

The menu: 

shrimp & chicken lemon-garlic kebabs 

fresh kebab vegetables (red onion, orange & green bell pepper, mushrooms, yellow squash, zucchini) 

chicken-garlic pilaf

grilled ginger & brown sugar pineapple

chocolate mousse cake

My hubby treated me like a princess...

and my babies were rotten. 

Typical day around here! 

Spring Has Sprung!

Kate eating watermelon on the back patio with the perfectly blue sky and sunshine prompted a bit of a photo session this afternoon. 

I think she is just gorgeous! 

And, honestly, THOSE CURLS!?

Devouring piece after piece. Adorable! 

Full of watermelon with a cheese ball smile. Love it!

Pondering the beauty of the world

And enjoying her bubbles! 

Pop, pop, pop! 

My Kakie-potamus

My Eefie

B

who lost this bottom tooth this morning.

And the biggest confident brother

More posing from the spoiled, little princess

Happy Spring! What a beautiful, relaxing afternoon we got to enjoy today.

Easter 2017

Happy Easter!  

from the Williams

 Collin (8), Brennan (6), Ethan (3) and Kate (19 mos) 

Kate & Mommy

The boys all ready for Church

Silly bunny boys

#Kims40thBash

Happy 40th birthday, Kim! 

Last weekend I headed to Las Vegas to celebrate my older sister's 40th birthday. Ryan took off work on Friday to watch the kids, and I was off first thing in the morning.

I bought Kim a "40" tiara and an "It's my 40th birthday" sash to wear to the concert. She looked stunning!

For the first time in my entire life (at 35yo), I drove by myself to the airport and put the car in long-term parking. I caught the shuttle, went through TSA alone and found my gate. I also sat in the center seat on the plane (I always make Ryan do it when we are together). It was a weekend of firsts!

When I arrived, my parents picked me up at the airport, and we headed to our hotel. We parked the car but left our bags inside (it was hours before check-in). We ate lunch at Senor Frog's and wandered around the Venetian.

We stayed at Treasure Island. The rooms were clean and great, but the casino was dark and smoky (like all casinos, I guess).

I think gondolas are so picturesque.

Then we headed back to the hotel, checked in and got settled in our rooms.

From my "room with a view." Good morning, Mr Trump!

Again for the first time in my life, I had my own hotel room all alone. Though I missed Ryan, it was totally awesome. So QUIET. That doesn't EVER happen!

When Kim & Rich arrived, we grabbed a cab and headed to see Blue Man Group at the Luxor. Such a fun show! It was pretty expensive, but it was awesome. They moved our seat to the 7th row when we arrived and gave us some neon crepe paper to "decorate ourselves." My dad tied it around his head with a bow on his forehead. (You can see my "headband" in the pic above.) It was awesome. We were all under black lights too, so everyone was glowing.

When I got back home, I searched YouTube for some of my favorite parts to show the boys, and they are all there. We saw the "Rice Krispie Symphony," "Twinkie Feast," "Drumbone," "Pipesharing," and "Paintballs & Marshmallows Toss." Google them when you are bored. So fun!

Towards the end, all these crepe paper rolls were lowered down around the auditorium (think toilet paper dispensers), and we all passed paper over our heads. It's hard to explain, but we basically toilet-papered the whole place. It got a little claustrophobic when mounds of crepe paper were tossed on my head, but it was so fun.  A total party. I highly recommend going if you ever have the chance. Fun stuff.

That night we got fancy treats (chocolate mousse cheesecake for me) and ate in the Venetian food court. Rachel (Kim's friend from high school in Ohio) and her husband Gonzalo joined us there.

By the next morning, Jared & Charlotte had arrived from San Diego. After I hit the gym (I love hotel gyms), we had breakfast altogether and then headed to the Bellagio. We saw the water show,

America the Beautiful & Char's fave Andre Botticelli song

the lobby blown glass,

All the women

and the conservatory.

 The Bellagio Conservatory was all decked out for China's Year of the Rooster

I really wanted to go to the art museum too, so we split up at this point. Half of the group got gelato, while the rest of us went to the museum. It was an exhibit focusing on artists contemporary to each other, but whose perspectives varied because some were urban and others were rural. I love this kind of stuff, so it was great.

I love this lithograph. The caption was in French, but the old, hardworking lady is saying, "Do you want me to sweep you too?" It is a social statement about her dress's complete impracticability. 

After my own gelato, we split the group again. Some of us (me) wanted to walk the rest of the Strip, and others wanted to return to the hotel to rest. Those of us who continued on got to see the MGM Grand and New York, New York. We also took a tram between the Aria and the Bellagio. We saw lots of street performers and lots of strangers' skin. ;-( We also got to see a second Bellagio water show (it started with fog that covered all of us, and we couldn't see the show, oops) of Celine's "My Heart Will Go On." The perfect prep for the night!

The "walkers" were running really late at this point, so we raced back to the hotel and changed for the Big Night.

Kim and I in her princess attire
I also bought our whole group "Happy 40th Birthday" Mardis Gras-like necklaces. You can kinda see mine in this pic.

We all met up together again, and we walked to the Forum Shoppes at Caesar's Palace. Char had made reservations at Trevi, which was a delicious Italian restaurant with both indoor and "outdoor" seating (it was inside the fake-sky area). There was a giant, Romanesque waterfall sculpture behind us. Nice place. Good food.

You can actually kinda tell we are all related in this picture: me, my sister and my mom.

All nine of us at dinner
From the left: my dad, my mom, me, Gonz, Rach (at the head), Rich, Kim, Charlotte & Jared

After some shopping (who knew how cheap H&M was?), we headed to see Celine Dion. Wow, she can put on a show! We saw her 1,022nd show (since she started performing in the Coliseum in March 2003). The theatrics and lighting, the costumes and orchestra, the backup singers and the pianist... It was awesome. So much fun! She actually is really spunky and fiesty, and she was really very entertaining... And it goes without saying that her vocals were stunning.

Me, my dad and my mom
We were up in the 2nd balcony, and my dad was a real trooper. He is TERRIFIED of heights, so it was a real challenge for him, but he did great.

After some more shopping, we headed back to the Venetian for crepes in their Food Court. Unfortunately, at about this point, I got a text from Ryan. He had just gotten back home from a dinner at the Bishop's house for members of our ward council, and he had learned that the very next day would be our last Sunday in our current ward. Apparently, the day before each family in our neighborhood had received a letter letting us know (how's that for 2 days notice?!) from the stake presidency, but we don't check our mail too often, so we hadn't seen it yet. Anyway, I was pretty upset (3 wards in 3 different stakes in less than 18 months... And we haven't even moved houses!). I headed back to my room about midnight and cried more than I slept that night. I don't do change well...

But morning came early, and the party had to come to an end. We met for breakfast at 8am, and then my mom and dad dropped me back at the airport. By myself again, I found security and my gate. I sat in the middle seat, found the shuttle back to long-term parking, found the car right where I left it (ha ha), and drove the hour home again. Go me! (Psst - I got married young, and we've always done everything together and/or have always been too broke to do anything just for fun.)

All in all, it was an absolutely awesome weekend! Happy 40th birthday, Kim! Hope it was the weekend you have always dreamed of. Thanks for letting me come party with you!