That Snowman Looks Familiar...

We have been getting a lot of snow this year. Emma and her friends decided to go outside one day and build a snowman. I was surprised that her friends did not know how to do it. I guess that they have never made a snowman before. How do you live in snowy Utah and never have the chance to build a snowman? Emma showed them how to roll the snow and then stack it up. While they were doing this, they had the idea to make a "Missionary Snowman". Christopher had sent home one of his missionary name tags a few months earlier (I guess he had an extra one). We then found an old tie that Josh had accidentally washed. After putting the tie and name tag on we decided that he needed some kind of hat. Josh went to his room and pulled out this straw hat that Christopher had used on his pioneer trek a few years ago. I think that this little snowdude turned out pretty cute.

Christmas Day 2008

We had a great Christmas! We started the day with Emma waking us up at 6:30 to open presents. We sent her back to bed until 7 am, at which time she promptly woke us up again. We finally gave in and rounded everyone up to let the day begin. It had snowed the night before (again) and we had a true "white Christmas". In the afternoon we traveled to Greg's brother's home in Mapleton to visit with family and some friends. It was a really wonderful afternoon filled with lots of food and fun. The cousins always enjoy getting together and it always seems to be a little out of control. I am sure that is due to the shear number of them all. Everyone was there with the exception of Christopher, who actually called during the party. Many of us talked to him and visited with him for about 1 1/2 hours. It was really nice. I guess you could say he really was there!
This picture is just of the cousins. The one above includes Grandma and Grandpa Williamson.

As you can see, we had a very full house!

Happy 20th Birthday Jenni!

Today our little Jenni is 20!!! Wow! She is our Christmas Eve baby and her arrival actually is a very funny story. I was convinced that she was not going to be born until January because Christopher had been so late coming. Her actual due date was December 19th, but I was certain that it would January before she came.

Greg's family had come from Alabama to spend Christmas with us. We were living in Salt Lake at the time and on the 23rd of December Greg, his Dad and brother, Steve, all traveled through the snow to Provo to watch the BYU Cougar Classic (men's college basketball tournament) at the Marriott Center. Greg's Mom and two sisters had taken my car to the mall to finish up their Christmas shopping. I decided to stay home with Christopher (who was 14 months) and my sister in law, June stayed with me to give me a perm. Just as we were getting ready to take out the rods from the perm, my water broke! So there I was, stranded with no car and beginning labor. I decided that I somehow needed to get ahold of Greg. Bake in good ole' 1988 we did not have cell phones. I called the Marriott Center and told them that my husband was there and that I had an emergency at home. They told me that they would find him. Well...I guess they flashed an emergency message on the scoreboard for "Greg Williamson to please come to First Aid" for the entire arena to see.

About this time, Greg's mom and sisters arrived back at our apartment and drove me to the hospital where I met Greg a few hours later. She was born at 11 am on Christmas Eve and I left the hospital at 7 pm that night so that I could spend Christmas morning with Christopher. Jenni slept in a little moses basket under the Christmas tree that night with her Aunt Stephanie and Aunt Michelle right beside her.

Jenni was actually a very shy when she was small. I know that is hard to believe! Her very first Primary program she got up to the pulpit and looked out at the audience and started to cry uncontrollably. I had to walk all the way to the front and retrieve her and calm her down. My how things have changed! We love you Jenni and hope that you have a wonderful birthday!

Christmas Past

This picture was taken in December of 1994. At the time this was all the Garrison cousins. Kirk has since added 5, Mark added one more and I had Emma. Look how cute they all are! From left to right (top) Brandt, Christopher, Kortney, Jenni, (bottom) Tavyn, Pete, Taylir, Tara, Tyson (front) Josh.

All Good Things Come To An End

Yesterday I was released as a laurel adviser for Young Women's. I have been in Young Women's for almost 9 years and it was probably one of the best callings I have ever had. I spent the first six years working with the girls in camp. This was such a blast! Even though it was a LOT of work, it was so rewarding. The last year I helped with camp we went to Heber Valley Campground. This was the best camping experience ever. They even had hot water showers and flushing toilets! Marja and I had so much fun together and really enjoyed each of the girls. The best part was playing volleyball. Who would of thought that volleyball would be so much fun? Ask anyone that joined in that game and they will tell you how we pretty much STUNK at volleyball but really knew how to have a fun time :) I don't think I have ever laughed so hard.
This is at the Heber Valley Campground. I am amazed when I look at this picture and think that some of them have moved away from home, more have married and one even has a baby!
At camp one of the favorite games for the girls to play was "Ride That Pony". If you have not played this game, you have to see it. Our entire ward of youth loved this game. It actually is pretty funny just to watch.
More camp pictures...

This past year our laurel class visited every temple in Utah. This brought us all so much closer. I love every one of these girls. Each of them has touched me in one way or another. I will really miss not seeing them twice a week and when Wednesday night rolls around it will seem really strange to not be heading to the chapel for mid-week activities.

A big THANK YOU to all the leaders I had the opportunity to work with. We have shared so many things. I never would have thought in a million years that I would ever stand up in front of an audience and sing karaoke to Britney Spears "Oops, I Did It Again" with Shazelle. It is amazing what you find yourself doing for these girls. Thanks again for all the good times!

Annual Christmas Sing

Yesterday was Barrat Elementary's Annual Christmas Sing. I went with Lezlie and Jenni and we had a good time watching all of the kids perform. Emma's class was the last one to sing, so we ended up staying the entire time. I was not really planning on staying the whole time, but I am glad that I did. All of the kids did a really good job and it is a great way to kick off the holiday recess. I had a hard time getting a good picture of her while they were performing. She is kind of hidden by the gal next to her, but you can still see her.
They sang three songs and the last one was called "Snowball Fight" and was sung to the tune of "Jingle Bells". During one point of the song, all the kids threw waded up white paper that looked like snowballs. It was really cute. What was even funnier was that the audience got into it and started to throw then back. It really was a snowball fight with little white balls going back and forth.
This was after the performances. Jenni spent the night so that she could get up early and do Emma's hair for the big event. Pretty cute. Emma was thrilled to have her big sister come and watch her.
Hard to believe that I only have two more years of this and all my kids will be done with elementary school. Just does not seem possible.

Two Months and Counting...

Two months from today, Christopher will be on an airplane coming home. It hardly seems possible that two years are almost complete. Everyone told me how the time would go by so slowly, but I have to say that this has been the quickest two years of my life. Words cannot describe how much we have missed having Christopher here in our home. His mission has certainly been a blessing not only to the families he has had the opportunity to touch, but to him and everyone in our family.

Last year at this time was a particularly dark period for our family. I remember talking to Bishop Wirtz and saying that I thought that sending young men on missions was supposed to bring families blessings. Without even hesitating, he replied "Maybe this IS the blessing." How true those words were and how wise his counsel has been. Our family has grown so much closer and the spirit is so much stronger in our home. The gratitude I feel for Christopher and the sacrifice that he made really has touched my heart. I am truly lucky to be his mother. I know that when he returns that it will be an adjustment, but I cannot wait for him to walk towards me in that airport and give me a big hug! Love you, Son!

Another Kind of Bug

This past week our home has been infected with yet another virus. However, this one is of the computer variety. Greg has been working his magic, but our computer is still not up to par. We can get the internet up now (which is an improvement), but we still cannot upload pictures to our blog. Hence, the lack of postings in the past week. Hopefully we will soon have everything up and running and we can get back to logging our day to day activities.

Thanksgiving Dinner

We had Thanksgiving dinner today at Bobby and Stephanies with Greg's side of the family. It was a really laid back affair and pretty calm. I am not sure why...ususally the Williamson clan is out of control. We had it later in the day this year and that may have been the difference. In the picture above Josh is not too thrilled to have me take his picture. Since I have started my blog, the kids freak out when they see me pull out the camera...oh well.
This is Tara and my niece, Eliza Bleu. I think she missed the mark with the stethoscope. Nice try though.
Tara, Eliza, Jenni and Emma making fools of themselves...or everyone with the exception of Tara. I don't think she got the memo.
Jenni striking a pose. She was giving thanks in her own unique way.
Some of the nieces and nephews downstairs in the family room. It was a fun day and my tummy is full of turkey.

Pain? What Pain? ??

A couple of months ago, Christopher had to have an ingrown toenail removed. He sent this picture home about a week ago and I thought it was kind of funny. Some people never change :)

Long Weekend

I have not been very good the past week at keeping my blog updated. We have been hit with the nasty flu bug that has been lurking around Utah County. Hopefully everyone will be 100% in the next few days and life will be back to normal.

Greg has not been feeling well for about a week and the bug finally hit hard a couple of days ago. Luckily he was off from work so he did not have to call in sick. Today he went back and was still a little under the weather, but pushed himself to go.

Josh and Emma both came down with it in the early hours Sunday morning. That was a rough night. Emma woke up about 3:30 am and came into our room and spent the remainder of the night beside my bed. Josh woke up and took care of himself downstairs. Sunday was a rough day with all three of them (Greg, Josh and Emma) laying around watching Disney movies, digesting large quantities of Ny-Quil , and looking like corpses draped all over the furniture. I had been sick the previous week and luckily I was better just in time to take care of everyone. Tara has come out of this unscathed so far and I hope that it stays that way.

I am now spending my time disinfecting and cleaning everything down to the toothbrushes. I am determined to be triumphant over the nasty little bugs that have taken over our home for the weekend. So...when you walk into my home and smell that lemon fresh scent, it will not be because I am a clean freak...it will be because a battle has been waged and I will not be denied my victory :)

Raking Leaves

This afternoon Greg and I wrangled up all the kids and headed outside to get the yard ready for winter. With all the trees on our property, we certainly had our share of leaves to rake up. Emma had a friend over and they actually accomplished a lot together. I was kind of concerned that if she had a friend that they would just goof off. However, I was pleasantly surprised :)
This is Emma dumping the leaves in the garden to be tilled into the dirt for next planting. She came up with the idea of putting the leaves in the wheelbarrow. Whatever works! I just wanted them in the garden.
More pictures of Emma and Maddie.
Josh was not too excited to be helping with the yard. He has a grumpy face and after a while he decided it was not too bad. He had the easy part...sucking up the leftover leaves with the lawnmower.
We ran out of rakes to get the leaves up, so Greg got innovative and used the snow shovel. It actually worked really well.
More pictures of the family working. Tara helped too, but I somehow did not get her in any of the pictures. The tree in this pictures definitely needs to be pruned in the spring. A little out of control... It always feels good to get the yard ready for the first snow.

Great New Website For Missionary Moms

I stumbled across the neatest website for missionary Moms the other day. It is located at:

ourldsfamily.com

Since I have joined this group, I have connected with a few Mom's of missionaries that Christopher knows! It is so neat to talk with these Mothers and share pictures and stories. At this site they have many forums to join. Some are:

Mothers of Missionaries (both Sisters and Elders)
Mothers of Soon To Be Missionaries
Mothers of Returned Missionaries
Mothers of Missionaries That Had To Leave Early

If you have a missionary about to leave to the field or one already out, I highly suggest getting with this group. It has made my day!

In Josh's Own Words

Josh wrote this poem because he was bored in English one day. I thought it was pretty amazing. He certainly has the gift of writing. I am sure that someday he will be a famous author. He told me I could post it...so enjoy!


Of Me and Of Him

Nature is of me,
It swells within the very depths of my soul.

Truth is of me,
It blossoms in my mind.

Knowledge is of me,
It grows within my heart.

Self-fulfillment is of me,
It lies within my 'morrow.

The unnatural is of Him,
He crafts it with His delicate fingers.

The Truth is of Him,
Because He told it to me.

The Knowledge is of Him,
For it was He who developed it.

My self-fulfillment is of Him,
For He is always watching,
Helping me on the path,
He is always blessing me.

And you.

Picture Tag

I was just tagged by Teri Sue. Not sure what that means exactly, but I will follow the instructions that she gave me.

1. Go to the fourth file of your pictures
2. Find the fourth picture
3. Upload it to your blog and tag someone else to do the same.
4. I tag Amanda and Krissy :)

My picture was taken last winter. This was actually a Sunday and we woke up to so much snow that at church we were sent home after Sacrament Meeting to help our neighbors dig out. This is Jenni and Tara trying their best to shovel the snow. I had to capture this on film because I wanted to prove to Christopher that his sisters actually know how to work-JK!!!

Growing Up Fast

A couple of weeks ago our ward had it's annual Primary Program. Emma was so excited that she got up earlier than usual and was ready very quickly. I am glad that I thought to take a picture of her all "done up" for church. She did an great job with her part and even had it memorized two weeks before the actual day! She is certainly growing up fast. Only three more Primary Programs until Young Women's...WOW.

Utah Temple Tour

In January of this past year our Laurel class made a goal of attending all of the temples in Utah to do baptisms. As of just a week ago, the girls completed their goal by attending their last temple. These girls have been to Jordan River, Mount Timpanogas, St George, Vernal, Ogden, Salt Lake, Monticello, Manti, Logan, Bountiful and Provo. During these temple trips, these amazing young women have completed baptisms for more than 850 names. These are truly incredible girls and I have loved every minute working with them and seeing their testimonies grow. They have learned to love the temple like never before and implement the habit of regular temple attendance. Love ya girls! (the picture above is at the St George Temple)
This is at the Bountiful Temple. That temple looks a lot like the Mount Timpanogas temple from the outside, but the inside was totally different. The picture below is the Manti Temple...one of my favorites. Simply beautiful inside and out.

I Got To Get Me One Of These!

Christopher sent this photo home not too long ago. Only he would be able to find the only Nebraska Hunsker football mailbox in all of San Bernardino, California. I bet anything he was thinking that when he gets home he has GOT to have one of these! Only his would be with a BYU logo.

Boo!

Halloween this year was really relaxed and fun. Emma is our only "legal" trick or treater. Josh is too old, but I suspect that he has a stash of candy down in his room from going house to house last night with his buddies. I used to really enforce the "No Trick or Treating if you are over 12" rule, but I am getting old and tired and figure there are bigger battles to fight.

Emma was a cute little ladybug this year. I was really happy that Jenni found this costume last summer for a deal. I think that it looks really cute and I am happy that she decided to be something adorable and not disgusting-ha!

Emma's school has a parade every year of all the Halloween costumes. Halloween has certainly changed from when I was a kid. We just threw something on the night of the event and went out in search of candy. It is now a major holiday. What ever happened to the simple things? At any rate, Mr. Bezzant (Emma's teacher) made a great Shrek and was a good sport dressing up with all the kids.
This is after the parade with Tara outside her classroom.
Jenni dropped by for lunch and walked in the door with this all over her face. I told her she looked like a clown that escaped the asylum. Freaky. She told me that she did not wear it to work, but her and the guy next to her got bored and he had some face paint in his car. So...they retrieved it and went to work on each other's faces.
This is from the night of Halloween. This is Curtis, Marja and their boys, Braige and Brogan. Curtis looked so stunning in his yellow tights that I had to grab my camera. I told him that I was going to email it straight to Christopher. I am surprised that this picture was not blurry because I was cracking up when I took it. Marja was looking pretty stunning too.
These are our neighbors, the Flicks. Holli braved trick or treating with the kids while John was away at work. Ella was so cute as a lion and I love how Eli is totally snoozing through the whole thing. I wonder who ate his candy...HMMMMMMM.

Young Living Farm Fall Festival

We had the opportunity to go to the Young Living Farm Fall Festival last Saturday and had a great time. We had never gone before and did not know what to expect. However, we were all pleasantly surprised. Even Josh and Tara had fun!
The festival is run by BYU students and at one station they were passing out these masks. They had all sorts of activities ranging from trick or treating, hay rides, rock wall climbing, paddle boats, gunny sack races, fishing ponds, ball pits, and many more that I can't think of right now.
This is at the gunny sack races. I am not sure how we did not manage to get any pictures of Josh in this event, but he pretty much smoked everyone on the field. He must be half Kangaroo.
Emma was like a Spider "Girl" climbing up the rock wall. She was incredible. Even the BYU students manning the event were amazed.
Josh tried the rock wall too and did a pretty good job.
Greg decided to give the wall a whirl, but was not quite as successful as Josh and Emma. But he gave a great try :) You can see in the picture below that Emma is schooling him.
This is were Josh's fairy tale dreams came true...he met Cinderella-ha! ( I did not know that Cinderella was a brunette.)
The paddle boats were by far the funnest. Tara and Emma floated around the small pond with ease...
Greg and Josh convinced me to get in back of their boat and lets just say they struggled. I was not sure they would ever get me back to shore. They got away from the dock and then it was all down hill from there. I did not ever think they would be able to get us back. I am not sure what was so difficult about the whole thing, but they really had a hard time. I think that having the weight dispersed unevenly may have been the problem. At any rate, we probably spent about 5 minutes under the bridge with both of them trying to figure out how to get through. I was laughing so hard. Emma finally got on top of the bridge and step by step guided them through and back to the safety of the dock. Maybe she should be a Bar Pilot on the Columbia River!


This is a great picture looking out from the porch where we had dinner. If you look close you can see the barn way in the background. It was really pretty and peaceful there.
They had bronzes of wildlife all around. Tara could not resist jumping on this poor Buck and having me take a picture.
More games...
And finally the trick or treating. It was really a fun afternoon and everyone wants to return next year for a repeat and bring Christopher and Jenni with us.