Summertime....and the Livin' is CRAZY!!!

WARNING: THIS POST MAY CAUSE PHOTO OVERLOAD!!!

Let's just begin by saying June was crazy town around here...

We started the month by celebrating this guy's 60th birthday.

It began as a surprise and ended up being fun but NO surprise.

And...when I finally figure out how to download all of Brooke's

pictures that she took of the festivities I will dedicate a post

purely to Mike's day. Just know that it was a fabulous group

effort on the part of the Williams girls.

GABI'S GRADUATION!!

Next came Gabi's Pre-School Graduation...

luckily it fell on a Friday so I could be in attendance.

I missed both Minie and Jude's graduations

:(

In summary....she is brilliant!!

GIRLS CAMP 2011

Then came a couple of days & nights at Girl's Camp.

I was a slacker at documenting but this was

the banquet the final night and it was

a great time at Mutual Dell.

SULLY'S FIRST BIRTHDAY!!

Next came Sully's First Birthday...

Robyn came up to help with Mike's

party and had what we called a

"Stay-cation". She and her crew were

here for most of the month. So we got

to celebrate with this little man.

Angel boy wore this crown all day long....

he even came and visited me at work in it.

Sweet, sweet Sully. So lucky to have

you with us on your big day!! XO

MINIE'S DANCE RECITAL!!

Next up was MIss Minie's Dance Performance.

I blitzed straight from work to down town SLC

where she was performing.

Cutest little Kittie in the whole world...

and she is a natural. She is the best

in her class so she was front and center

so all the others could follow her lead.

BELLA'S 3RD BIRTHDAY!!

And then we had Bella's 3rd Birthday party...

Vanessa planned a delightful Unicorn Party.

Check out all the fanciful food and treats.

This party was to die for!!

Don't you love the unicorn horns??

THE BERSET SISTER'S VISIT!!

Next we had the great pleasure of having the

Berset sisters in town for a visit.

What a kick it was to be with these four!!

This was our Temple Square visit.

It was great to see these ladies and the

dynamics of the sisters together.

We had a wonderful visit.

It was too short but MOST sweet. It left us

wanting MORE!!!

BACKYARD FUN!!!

The high water conditions have kept us out of the

canyons....too scary with so many toddlers.

So, we improvised and had our own fires

and s'more making right in our own back yard.

Ezra just gets cuter and cuter by the minute!

MINIE'S 4TH BIRTHDAY!!

The first of July brought MORE birthdays....

Miss Minie Moo turned 4 and had a fantastic

"Garden Party" in Grandma Alice's backyard.

Nannie forgot her camera....but not to worry...

we had a little celebration in my back yard too!

*** THE FORTH OF JULY ***

And then came the 4th of July...

and the annual Hidden Oaks celebration.

The Williams Family Patriots were in the parade,

of course!!

All the kids wore their numbers (according

to Grandpa Mike's numbering system). You'll

have to ask for an explanation sometime...

it's too complicated to detail here.

TRULY.

Ezzie...stop the cuteness. You're killing us!!

After the annual neighborhood breakfast, we

enjoyed Sidewinder Falls, the bounce house,

a BBQ with Grandma Billie and the gang, and

fireworks compliments of Thanksgiving Point.

Whew....what a month!!!

The Lamoreaux clan headed back to St. George

and I headed back to work and I think we are

ALL exhausted.

Let's do it all again next year!

XOXOXO

Memorial Day...Part II

Today was the actual "Memorial Day" so

Mike and I made our way back to the

cemetery to meet up with the

"William's Extended" gang.

We arrived to a downpour....

After about 20 minutes, the rain let up long enough

for us to make our way our to the

grave sites. Lee and Terri had come

up with an idea (via Elijah) of bring

photos to the event to be kept by the

head stones in waterproof folders.

Glenn's surviving family.....minus Mark.

Before leaving for the cemetery, Mike called me to the

kitchen window and said, "Look at this!"

There was this little quail family....Mom, Dad

and whole gaggle of little chicklets following in tow.

At one point the Momma spread her wings and

all the babies scurried underneath and she wrapped

her wings around them all to warm them up.

They were down in our "dug-out" area of the back yard

and the little chicklets were too little to climb out.

Mike tried to go out and help them but just

terrified them all as the scattered.

We finally left them to their own devices and

when we got home, they were all gone...

so I guess they figured it out on their own.

Cutest thing EVER!!

No Words.....

Missing in Action....

As it turns out....I took a blog break.

No excuses, no explanations...I just took a break.

But I have returned, not because I feel a deep, abiding need

to share with the world my life, but because

this is about the only way I document

what is happening. A type of journal entry, if you will.

Not much has been happening...work, church work,

house work, yard work, and rain....lots and lots of rain.

Mike and I did, however, take a quick break from the

humdrum and headed south to St. George

(4 hour drive to sunshine...do-able)

to see Miss Gwyneth in her first leading

role in a musical....and surely NOT her last!!

(We also caught a soccer game, but I failed to document it.)

She belongs to a singing group and she was given

a lead in their little spring performance...an adaptation

of the Mouse and the Lion story. As you can see,

she had the role of the mouse and I must say....

she was a smash! The girl is a natural and

LOVES the stage. No stage fright in this child.

And talk about taking the lead....she stole the show!

(I was video taping for Robyn so I didn't get shots of

the actual show....)

Her friend and neighbor, Gina, also was in

the production....another number with the

little older group.

Here are the proud Mommies.

Great work, Gwynnie!

(Oh...P.S....ears and tail

compliments of Nannie.)

And today (Sunday) the local families that were in

town came down and we visited the graves.

I love this part of Memorial Day...

it's always a joyful event where we

share stories of Grandpa Glenn and Jeff.

It even stopped raining long enough

for us to really linger a while.

Brad was recovering from nasal surgery and won't

get the stitches out until Tuesday but he was

a trooper and took everyone's teasing of his

inability to breath and talk properly in stride.

Later we made our way home for

Sunday dinner, and an evening of hanging out

and topped it off with a little popcorn with the girls.

Nice day...we missed the Jackson family, the Lamoreaux's

and our California kids...as always.

But what do you do? The show must go on...

right, Gwynn?

XOXO

Egg Hunt 2011

Nannie was still "under the weather" when

Saturday rolled around and the annual

Easter Egg Hunt was scheduled.

But...we managed to pull it off

and the littles didn't seem to notice

at all.

Here you see this year's 5 participants...

Gabi, Bella, Jude, Ezzie, and Greta!

(Minie and Poppy decided to stay down

south where the weather was a little

more conducive to bunny hopping!)

Gretsie spying yet another egg...

Jude happily dominating the hunt...

Gabi's overflowing basket....

And Bella showing off her findings...

All in all, it turned out fantastic. It was

chilly enough that we went inside and

threw a log on the fire but that was nice

and cozy and the kids played beautifully

all evening. I think we will chalk this up

to another success.

Next year I will be up to snuff and

more "present" than I may have been!

Happy Easter...

Way To Go Lisa!!

Cute Lisa Williams Gurman accomplished

what most would think was impossible.

She graduated from BYU this week

with her Bachelor's Degree, one year

after giving birth to twins!!

We were so impressed that she persevered

while adjusting to life with 2 babies and

while Hayden was a full time student as well!

She is a wise girl....it's SOOO hard to go back

to school once you've left it behind to raise your family.

Cute Beckham and Ellery seem no worse for the wear!!

We threw a little party for her. Mark and Diana drove

out from Bakersfield, and Grandma was there

as well as many other Williams family members

who have grown to love this little family!!

Eileen made two yummy cakes in honor of

her accomplishment....and everyone

else pitched in to make a wonderful

dinner party.

The Gurman family is heading out to CA

this week for another summer of door to door

sales. So we celebrated Hayden's birthday

which fell on Sunday.

Darling family....we wish them well and look

forward to seeing them in the fall when

Hayden comes back to continue his program

(where he can focus a little more on his studies

withOUT trying to do so while he cares for

the twins.)

I HATE BEING SICK!!!

So, I feel like CRAP.... and I hate when I can't get on top of an illness. I know I shouldn't complain because I really haven't been sick all winter. Usually when I start to get something, I push the fluids, try to get some extra sleep and before you know it....I'm up and running again.

But, this last week when I spent a whole lot of time with a whole lot of little people with runny noses and colds (and let's face it, who can resist smooshing those cuties, regardless of their health conditions?) and combined that with less than normal amounts of sleep...way less than normal amounts...I wound up on the down-side of this nasty cold. Everyday I've been telling myself, "I'll feel better tomorrow" and then I just don't.

So, I broke down and went to the Dr. tonight. I called to try to see my regular physician and they couldn't fit me in until next week....big help that would be! Instead, I wandered into the InstaCare up the road. About 5 minutes and $136 later (love having NO insurance!) I held a prescription in my hands for an antibiotic that I was told would make a big difference in a day or two....seems I have a pretty good sinus infection and slight bronchialitis. I headed to the pharmacy and one of my sisters ex-boyfriends from ions ago is the pharmacist there. He knows of our insurance situation and was kind enough to work a deal for me and gave me the prescription at pharmacy cost. I KNEW I wasn't myself when his kindness made me cry.

I'm going to bed and will face what all I need to do in the morning. Four hours of sleep a night just isn't enough for me and that's about what I have been averaging. TTFN

(P.S. I promise this will be one of the few "whiny-butt" posts I will share.)