Williams - Cody's Wedding in Idaho

 Cody & Megan and the family.

 Herb with Nora and cousin Evelyn.

 Tesa and I

 Herbie mid somersault while break dancing.

Sage dancing with cousin Caden.

Whiskey, Weed, Tapatilo!

Still can't figure out why Ben went on a nursing strike...

Could my milk be bad? Naw.

Tapatilo reminded me of Andrea and her game. She came up with something rather amusing to describe the addicts in her life. She said they all have their own GENRE or something...
Her husband dave is fo shizzle WHISKEY, WEED, TAPATILO. All the things he loves. It just captures his essence, she says. She said our brother Alex is VODKA, MARLBORO REDS, BOTTLECAPS. And that our Dad is RUM, CHOCOLATE, WOMEN.

We had so much fun with this when she taught us how to play. It really does capture one's essence, particularly with addicts, as their poison consumes them, is them. But it also works for anyone. Andrea is ALKA-SELTZER, SAGE STICK, UGGS. We're still working on mine, unable to quite pin something down. WHITE HANES, SOMETHING, SOMETHING...

What's your genre?

Everytime I eat Tapatilo, I can't help but exclaim, "WHISKEY, WEED, TAPATILO!" It sort of rolls off the tongue and dances, doesn't it?

I kind of grew up on Beastie Boys so this video is just awesome. How they got all of those people in the video is beyond me. Even Frodo.

Revisited is nice but you can't beat original...

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

Recognize this face?

MORE COOL OLD

My parents on a two-month road trip in Mexico. They had been camped in their car on what they thought was a deserted beach and were there for a few days before, out of nowhere, they were approached by Mexican military men pointing rifles at them. Only my Dad spoke little Spanish. My parents had buried garbage days before and they were forced to dig it back up and leave the beach. Unknowingly they were on some sort of military base/property and had been watched for days. I'm sure the soldiers were enjoying their show as my Mom said she had been going topless almost the whole time. Whoops.

OLD BEFORE OLD WAS COOL

I love the iphone app Instagram. I'm addicted. The photos probably give us all such a great feeling because they are like so many of our old family photos. I have quite a few old family photos scanned into my computer and love to look through them. There's just something about them. I love seeing my parents and wondering about their life and love. It's weird they were people long before I came along. I wish I could go back in time. I give you... real old photos. Do you find them as iconic and magical as I do? In these particular photos my Mom was 21 and my Dad 19.

Sad?

Maybe a little...

Is it just me or is it hard for all parents to decide if things are funny or sad? Usually, it's a little of both. Anika has always been great about bedtime but has been giving me trouble lately. Last week one night she announced her utter refusal to go to bed. I just went about my business and sat down to watch GOLD RUSH. She stayed real quiet and just sat on the chair, surely thrilled I was ignoring her. I could read her mind... I'm getting away with it!

I stole a few glances only to see her eyelids getting heavy. Eventually, she grabbed a pillow and laid down on the carpet where she fell fast asleep. I was reluctant to go to bed because I knew what needed to happen. I knew I had to leave the poor thing there. Ahhh, natural consequences are such a bitch, aren't they?

At about 3 a.m. I was awakened by the sound of very disoriented feet. Pitter patter, pat pat pat. They sounded frantic and like they were running around in circles totally confused and lost. Finally... pat pat pat... they found their way down the stairs and into her bed. The next morning I asked her casually how her night was. She said, "The floor is hard, Mom."

Aaaand... She hasn't pulled that crap since.

Williams - Our Get Away

Herb and I went away for a short get away this weekend. A big thank you to our friends the Melanson's for watching our children. I am sure they were worn out by Sunday night. Back in June, Herb won a free two nights stay for two at a hotel in Victoria BC. We couldn't use it until peak season was over and then we realized we needed passports. I already had one but we had to wait for Herbs and then the thing expired Dec 15th so our window was short. We left at 3am on Saturday morning and returned on Sunday evening. We had to take a ferry across the river to Canada. We just drove our car right on the boat and then crossd over. It was so much fun. I didn't even feel like I was out of the country. It looked alot like downtown Portland or Seattle and everyone speaks English. We ate lots of really good food, spent too much money on food, visited the Butchart Gardens at night, walked along the coastal line and tried to find creatures in the tide pools, slept in until 9am on Sunday, froze our butts off, took a free horse drawn trolley around downtown, and then headed home. Quick but worth it.

Williams - The wretched thumbs

My two little thumb suckers.

Williams - Christmas Decorating

Decorating the tree and the house. The kids go crazy and love to take creative control. I love these pics of Nora. I couldn't get her to wear the hat so I could take pictures for our family Christmas card. We finally got a keeper, after several tries, crying, Herb trying to force her to stand in front of the tree. She is hilarious.

Anika Can Read!

It's official- Anika can read! My Mom kept telling me that, too. I knew she was starting to read words here and there but kind of blew my Mom off as daughters tend to do. I finally got her a set of beginning books and she had read through 6 of the books 10 minutes after the UPS truck delivered them. My Mom was like, "I've been telling you this!" Anika's very excited and proud. So am I!

As with anything concerning Anika, she won't let me help her. She was reading to me yesterday and I accidentally told her a sound- which she does NOT allow. She freaked out and said now she had to wait until the next day and start over. So, order still reigns supreme in her life. She can't just read a book from the middle or end of a set- she has to read the entire set in order EACH time.

She cracks me up and entertains me all day. It's been so beautiful to have Ben join our family and see her bond with him. They love each other. I love them both. ☺

Tree

Big B chopped down a rustic piñon. And she turned out real purty. Jenny- those nesting dolls are still my ONLY Christmas decoration- thanks. I bought some white felt trees that I might string up and then I'll own TWO whole decorations!

My Babies

Two questions:

Why is Alana's family so hot?

Why did Herb's parents move?

rings

I've never in my life seen more beautiful rings than these. Never has anything come close to how gorgeous these are. Right?!?! So pretty. How many decades do you have to be married before you get wedding ring do-over? Who am I kidding, though? Rings irritate me. I hardly wear my wedding band. But seriously, I am in loooooove with these. Girls?! Are the gorg or what?!