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.