Williams - Ward Campout

Below are pictures from our ward campout. We camped in downtown Vernonia equivalent to Orderville or some other small town in Utah:) The weather wasn't perfect and its sprinkled a little bit but we had a great time. We brought our bikes and the kids rode their bikes on the bike trail. We even got a free tractor ride by a local farmer. He stopped on this bridge long enough to tell us that this is where they hold the annual lawn mower races. LOL! You'll notice that in one of the pictures Herbie is crying because we made him give up his bike for 5 minutes for another friend to ride it. Good times!

ALANA WHERE ARE YOU?

Since you are the only one that posts to this blog, we need you to come back and grace us with your presence.

Williams - The Heat Wave

Two weeks ago we had the heat wave of the century here. I think one day it reached 112 degrees. My car registered 116 at one point. Yikes! I do love the heat but the bad news is, is that we don't have air conditioning. When I lived in St. George, we were able to cool off in a nice air conditioned home. We broke down and bought a portable unit and it barely keeps the living room cool when we break 100. It is the hottest between 4pm & 9pm. So we would usually leave the house at the time, eat out (because it was too hot to cook), make sandwiches, go to the movies, swimming, anything to get out of the house. Herb and the kids slept on the tramp one night, and then the hottest night of all we blew up our air beds and we all slept on the living room floor with the air conditioner blowing right on us. Below is a pic of our makeshift bedroom and Sage and I hugging our beloved air conditioner.

Adios!

I'm out.

Another year that Brandon can't go on my family vacation with us! What a total bummer. Especially because Anika is old enough to really appreciate the beach and he's going to miss it all... he has to stay and work. Also: our car broke again! With all the car repairs I have charged to a card, I could have bought a new car by now. So my Mom is renting us a big ol' Ford Taurus, baby. This is where I will be for the next 8 days. Cara's Newport place is quite tiny so she rented us this place in San Clemente. And we'll be spending our days on the family plot. No, not that one- our beach plot just down from my Grandma's old house.

AND. If the plan works out, we are going to take the passenger Amtrak down to Sea World one of the days. Anika is going to freak out... excitement, horror, you name it.

AND. I just found out the rental has a crib. When my Mom told me, I literally crumbled to my knees in delight and shouted for joy. It's still going to be a nightmare dealing with the little princess but access to a crib might take the edge off.

Glass Man

Brandon (bless his heart) has been trying to talk me into mirrored backsplash for years now. (Molten glass runs through his veins.) I tell him he is crazy because he wants everything mirrored. And with beveled strips, of course. He also wants a huge, totally-out-of-line fish tank. I try to imagine what our house would look like if I let him go ape crazy on it. I imagine a 1980's party house complete with a mirrored tabletop where we would sort our fashionably-80's coke... Brandon's Bevel-Stripped Palace of Dreams.

But then I saw this and am thinking perhaps he wasn't totally crazy about the mirrored backsplash. I don't think it could work in our house but it sure does in those photos. But then again, I don't really want to see my muffin-top looking back at me while I bake. (umm, while I take the pepperidge farm coconut cake out of the box.)

Who am I to talk about the 1980's anyways? I've embraced them once again. I'm wearing a gold, digital casio these days. You heard me. Digital. And beyond skinny jeans, I pegged the other week. I tell you, I'm all but a breath away from doubling up my jazzercize socks over my stirrup stretch pants.

"i wanna type letters, mom"

This is Anika's new obsession which, thankfully, has replaced jumping on the mixing bowls. Since this video, her new words she practices are 'Janna', 'Mike', and 'Emmet'. (I think she wants them to adopt her!) Also: 'dog', 'bus' and 'frog'. She also requests to learn some strange words... "I wanna type poop, Mom. I wanna type nugget poop." The funniest is that she knows where and what the comma, apostrophe, dash, 'flower' (asterisk), bracket, equal, and the semicolon are.

I'm thinking of hiring her to take care of all my desk work, bills, e-mails. That's assuming I wouldn't be breaking any child labor laws. And I'd have to get her one of those keyboards that prevent carpal tunnel syndrome. And a cushy, swivel office chair... with a booster seat. Perhaps a headset to take calls?

rooster alarm

Ciara, I came across some of your words of wisdom in my Journal of Summer. Dated July 1998:

Usually most normal, boring people set their beeping, obnoxious alarm clocks for an exact time like, for instance 7:00 a.m.- 7:30 a.m. never an uneven number but Alana and I use a rooster alarm clock and set it on all weird #'s 7:02 for example. During those extra 2 minutes of sleep a lot could happen. You could finish a dream or finish the good parts. It's a rule not to set it on the hour.

-Ciara's words of wisdom.
(yes, you even wrote Ciara's words of wisdom.)

As you might expect, I rarely set an alarm because Anika wakes me up bright and early. But sometimes, perhaps leaving early for vacation or other rare events, I set it. And I still set it to random times. I physically can't bring myself to set a clock for 6:00. But 6:07 just feels better. Ciara, do you also still have this disease? Are you still setting alarms for weird times? What about sleeping with a pea underneath your mattress? Tell me you've broken that habit!

Child Bride of Short Creek (Crick)

Well, today is our sixth wedding anniversary. My brother's girlfriend saw a photo of me in my wedding dress and then heard me say something about my wedding. She was in shock. You should have seen the look on her face. She said she thought I looked about fourteen, just trying on a prom dress or something. Nope, I was 23. A wee little 23. Oh Alana, your hair. And I'm wondering: I have three sisters, do I not? Do they love me? Why didn't any of them teach me to do my hair?

Brandon and I were going to go out tonight but he had to work late (surprise) so I cooked up a romantic dinner for four at home. (me, the B, Anika and The Bemy).

How are you spending your days in the heat? Ciara, I hear you are having a heat wave. And I assume no central A/C in those parts? We go out early in the a.m. and then bunker down inside our concrete walls for the remainder of the day.

Has it really been six years? Have we really been together for eleven years now? I've been with the big B since he was 21 years old. That seems like such a baby. Jake is about to turn 21. Brandon turns 33 this September. Freaky. Even freakier is how quickly this last year has gone by. It seems like just two months since I was blogging the big 5 yr. anniversary!

^This makes me laugh.

Date with Alana

If I thought a date would be fun in highschool, I had another thing coming!

Nothing- I repeate, NOTHING compares with the glory that is DATE NIGHT WITH ALANA! I get nervous and giddy- excited to the point of sweating more than usual... It's one full evening of motormouth stories and laments. In short, date nights with Alana are something I positively live for!!!

kitchenette in the gun nest?

this.

my thoughts exactly.

my deepest desire,
down to my soul's bones,
is to get off the grid.

the whole thing's comin' down
so let's just get out of the way.

Good Ol' 455 Franklin Street

I spent many an hour in this very studio under the glare of Larisa Sklyanskaya. I was so exhausted one day and she caught me yawning. She screamed, "I am not your dentist!" but didn't kick me out of class. Usually you were out for the day if you yawned. The fear.

That's the first mistake I made when I taught ballet. I was way too friendly with the girls. If I ever teach again I'm going to kick it Sklyanskaya style. Or better yet... Eric Hurst style. But that's a story for another day.

Ahhh, San Francisco Ballet and the summer of my first true love: Ricardo Torres from Puerto Rico. His English wasn't perfect and I loved it. He used to invite me up to his dorm room (we stayed at USF) on the 7th floor and he'd turn on the classical station on his little radio. We would dance. And then we would take turns doing improv ballet to the music. My improv was always a little shy but Ricardo, he took it so seriously. (arabesque-penchee-with-sweat-dripping-down-his-jaw serious.) The big windows literally would fog up from the exertion. (Ricardo's roommate was Lane from NYC. He was flamboyantly gay and wore a short, silk robe around the dorm, to and from the showers.) Several letters post-summer, we lost touch. I know he made it big dancing for American Ballet Theatre (just like he said he would) and then up and left for the National Ballet Theater of Puerto Rico. Ricardo was straight, by the way.
Very straight.

bedding

... to even utter the word gets me excited. If I had a lot of money I could really go crazy with bedding. I constantly want new bedding. It drives Brandon out of his mind. Travel back with me, if you will, to when I was a mere five years old...

I begged and begged and begged for some mauve satin sheets. Wouldn't you think I would be interested in a new Cabbage Patch Kid? No, all I wanted was mauve satin sheets I saw in the Penny's catalog. I finally got them for my birthday! They replaced my cabbage patch sheets which I had also been obsessed with. I remember studying those cabbage patch sheets for hours, seeing what all of the kids were doing. But wow! I finally got my mauve satins. It wasn't many nights after my birthday that I remember falling out of my bed and hitting my head on my white toy box. This is an early and distinct memory. Those suckers were so slippery!

While Cara was up we were discussing bedding (this occupies 15-20% of all our convos) and were cracking up about my satin sheets at 5! We still have this blue comforter in the family that we line the truck bed with when me move. It's as old as I am. It's origin? Cara, a middle-schooler, worked many a babysitting job and saved for nearly a year to purchase it. She said she saw it at Broadway (the department store) and then yearned for and dreamed of it until she could finally purchase it. I must say, it was worth it. That sucker is still in one piece and soft as butter!

What funny little girls we were. Please tell me Anika didn't get the love for bedding. She had better ask for a doll house at five. Can't you just hear her whining now... "but Moooom, they're 400tc egyptian cotton!" ... stomp, stomp, stomp, (brief pause) slam!!!!

ladies' night

^toes

^chips and A1 sauce

^my Bday

^adorable

Janna painted Anika's toes a while back and ever since then Anika is obsessed with it. She sits so still you could practically take her to the salon. She saw me doing mine tonight and got her chair out and hopped in, waiting patiently. She even sits still while you blow them dry. I never thought I'd paint the little one's toes but yes, this is what we do while Daddy is working late. That and make some ghetto dinner that we eat without him. I try to do big grocery shopping on Friday so by Thursday the pickings are looking slim... pale, limp iceberg (really just a vehicle for full-fat ranch to ride into my belly) and baked potatoes (vehicle for entire cube of butter).

Anyone else just dying for those dark clouds to make their way over and dump their weight? You know I love a desert thunderstorm. Where are they? The waiting is hurting me.

What else?

Brandon took me out for my birthday last night. I delicately approached the subject of painting our bedroom while I am in San Clemente. A calm "sure". What? I thought there was no way I could ever get him to paint again and I would have to go it alone without his gifted and talented taping. Remember last year when I went to Santa Barbara and made him paint the bedroom blue? Have I met myself? My bed changes wardrobe more often than I do. Did I really think I could commit? Plus, it's the naked room. Somewhere I read how a woman painted her bedroom ceiling hot pink so it would give her bare skin a nice glow. The room reflects the color surprisingly well, leaving me looking like a science experiment. Clothed or unclothed, I need all the help I can get.

design blogs

Nearly every design blog out there bores me to tears. Sure, they post pretty things but I need to be amused as well. I have found two of the greatest blogs that I read everyday and thought I'd send them your way.

http://myfavoriteandmybest.blogspot.com/

http://www.isuwannee.com/

Both of these girls have great taste and make me laugh my head off.

And while we're talking design, this renovation freaked my mind. I am in love with this house. Love, love, love!!! That master! That den! That sun room!

Williams - High Adventure

Herb and I went on the Stake Young Women High Adventure trip as adult leaders this year. It was so much fun. Somewhat of a vacation for us. The first day we took the girls rock climbing, the second day we went mountain biking down an intermediate single track trail from Government Camp on Mt. Hood all the way down the mountain to a place called Zig Zag. It was an amazing ride. I can't wait until next summer so I can do it again, not pregnant. The third day we hiked to a place called Mirror Lake and then continued on up the mountain until we reached the tip top which overlooked the lake and Mt. Hood in the distance. It was a tiring up hill climb but the view was breathtaking. In one of the pictures you will notice a lake right behind Herb and I. Then there is another pic of us at the top and if you look behind all the people, you will see that same lake which is at the bottom of the mountain.

I have been camping for 2 1/2 weeks straight and I am ready to be done and take a break for a while. I started school a couple days ago but life is slowing down. Sage is taking a dance camp and swim lessons this week. The temperature here is record high and without air and being pregnant it can be quite miserable but we are surviving. I finally finished painting Sage's room so I will have to post pics soon.

Williams - Ciara's Birthday

We went camping at Timothy Lake for my birthday this year. We went with 4 other families in our ward. It was a great time, the weather was beautiful, we made the most delicious blueberry cobbler, and my friends even made me a rainbow chip cake. We had a lot of great pictures so I had to include a bunch. The one of Herbie with his head down was taken right after he fell in the lake with his clothes on. He is looking down pouting. If you click on the picture, I think it will open larger in a new window so you can see them upclose.

Was I hallucinating or did Jillian actually have a zit on that boat ride with Ed? But I didn't need to pause the Tivo to be sure of that one tiny dimple in her thigh while she visited with Ed's parents. Hallelujah! She is human! It must have been the humidity in Maui, poor thing.

Hey, at least something keeps me alive and kicking while Brandon works 15 hour days! I feel like I haven't seen him in ages.

What else? Anika saw her first tortoise yesterday. We are in the desert every morning but I haven't seen one for ages. We tickled his toes. Arrest me.

That's all she wrote.

BUY or RENT Cypress Point #64 and we'll love you forever

RENT or BUY our condo!!!

We have created a CONDO WEBSITE for your viewing and snooping pleasure.

PLEASE pass this WEBSITE on to your buddies and we'll love you forever!

http://cypresspointcondo.blogspot.com/

...(don't forget to tell your pals :)

saaays Happy!

Anika likes to pretend she can read. For instance: S. O. N. Y. saaaays TV.
You can imagine my delight when she climbed on my lap while I was checking out this.
While pointing her little finger at each letter she proceeded to say:

"S. H. I. T. saaays... (long pause, nervous me thinking oh please no, please don't say it) ....saaaays... Happy!"

Not only had I been laughing at the list, but now I was laughing at her. She never stops making me laugh. I'm thinking I need that list, as I use the phrase often, and that it would have come in handy back in the days of my hit list.

Oh! How I loved to cross of repentant offenders, few as they were, with red lipstick like on Waterboy!

Plan of attack:
confront? if the mood strikes.
ignore? certainly not.
stew? likely.
avenge? if opportunity presents.
talk shit?! check and check! (coz that's my fave)

For anyone who cares to know, I have really cleaned it up around here for the little one. I'll be damned if she's going to hear such things from my mouth!

Now don't go getting your panties in a bunch over that joke. I really mean it now. Around Anika I now have the vocab of a nun, a nice nun. Won't my Mommy be so proud of me?

Williams - What are you doing on January 22, 2010?

I will be giving birth to baby #3 :)

Genuine Human Needs

I cracked a loud can of diet coke at a ripe 9 a.m. today. Cara is asleep on my floor so I was trying to be quiet. On a whim yesterday she decided to fly up for the weekend. It was a total surprise! We were just talking last night, as we got into the sleeping pills, about how house guests see up close and personal all the substances you abuse, all your shame. POP! Cara didn't flinch.

The second I heard the can's loud POP!, I thought of an Abbey excerpt from Down the River and decided to whip out my old copy and find it...

We pause on a beach for lunch. The air quivers with heat, with albedo reflectivity from the radiant canyon walls. Must be close to a hundred degrees in the shade and the sand is much hotter than that. Gary unloads the cooler, the crowd goes for the drinking water and the Tang. The hardcases among us snap the tabs from cans of beer, kept cool like catfish in gunny sacks trailed in the river. Fssst! The others stare. Impossible to muffle that sudden release of CO2 under pressure, the conspicuous pop! Sounds like a grenade attack. Incoming! Nobody here flinches but everyone knows who is drinking the beer. And who's been hoarding it. Would be helpful if some clever lad invented a more discreet, a more genteel mode of opening beer cans. A soft, susurrant, suspiring sort of . . . s i g h . . . might serve nicely. A sound that could pass, let us say, for the relaxed, simple, artless fart of a duchess. Ingenuous. But our technology continues to lag behind genuine human needs.

After packing up the entire house and hauling it away for a four day camping trip, we came home after only one night. Last year Anika was so happy about camping so I thought this year would be the same, and while she was happy (relative term) all day, she would not accept sleeping in the tent. She kept screaming. We would drive her to sleep and then try to sneak her in the tent but she would wake up freaking out. Letting her cry it out would be the solution if there were not other people in the campgrounds. She ended up sleeping all night in her car seat and I slept, or at least tried, all night in the front seat of the car. There was no way I was going to pull one of those nights again. I bet the whole place was glad to see us pack up the next morning.

The next morning Anika said, "I freak in the tent; I scream in the tent." Oh yes you did, my little fire-breathing dragon.

We still managed to have a great weekend. We took Anika swimming and also headed up to the cabin. Better luck next time.

Remember the days of packing only a backpack filled with ramen, flies, and a few changes of panties? Oh, the joy. I'm not kidding, with a kid and car camping I have to pack the whole house. I think we're going to try and take off this October for a good-old-fashioned backpacking trip, me and the B. Bust out the two-man and call it a day. Oh, the simplicity.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CIARA!!! Read all about her:

Ode to Ciara:

Ciara is the kindest gal,
the truest, sweetest, loyal pal-
She's never mean,
and oh so lean-
so here's your B-say howl!!!

Happy Birthday to my best friend Ci!
I found some old pictures so I thought it would be fun to embarrass her a little and post them... the problem is, it kind of embarrasses the rest of us who are in them as well.

For those who don't know Ci, I will tell you that you are for sure missing out!
She is one of the few people I know who hold no malice, no vindication, and are simply incapable of judging others. She is so responsible and follows through with everything she commits too. She is a hard worker, a endless supporter, and an even harder player. She has so much energy and is athletic and coordinated. She doesn't watch TV very often, she loves the outdoors and horticulture. She also loves repelling and hiking.

In days of yore I was always impressed with her spontaneous ballet moves. She also survived college trig! Most recently I have been floored by her devotion and stamina. Not only does she deliver all her babies (which are not small) without anesthesia, she goes swimming a few days later to boot! SHEESH! Plus- she has a perfectly FLAT stomach!

I will always remember sunrise rise breakfasts, driving over to hang out with the pine view boys, Havasu Pai (I could never keep up with her), Lake Powell trips, sharing lunch at Albertsons, yearbook for 5 years!, the night she came over because my boy friend dumped me (seriously she helped me so much), endless chats and all-nighters and crazy adventures! We have so many memories together it's hard to pick a few. I know for sure that I absolutely would not have survived middle school, high school, and college without her.

We've been best friends since 8th grade!
That's 16 years!

Happy Birthday Ci!
I love ya to death
and I MISS YOU so much!

My life is absolutely SO MUCH BETTER because of you!

When I was little, I remember the one thing I prayed for every night and wished for on shooting stars whenever I saw them: A BEST FRIEND!

IT WORKED!!!

You have been and are a great blessing to me!

HAVE A TERRIFIC DAY!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CIARA

I know it's tomorrow (the 26th) but I am leaving this morning to go camping with Anika and B! I have been thinking a lot lately of all the little fun things we did that made life happy. Like the pea. And sleeping outside more than inside. The rooster alarm clock, Omar and Diane. I'll leave you with this:

with beauty before me I walk,
with beauty behind me I walk,
with beauty above me I walk,
with beauty below me I walk,
with beauty all around me,
I walk.

Remember that?

I love you dearly, bosom buddy.
I hope you have a good day tomorrow and get to be pampered with a pedicure or something great! Enjoy our last year of our twenties!

strokin' out

Is it just me or are you also unable to quit sweating? I know summer is here because I showered three times today. Remember Nicole's New York apartment and my repeated showers? So is it my body's thermostat or my loathing for feeling gross? Hot, yes. Humid, no. I'm counting my dry blessings.

Williams - Tumbling Showcase

Sage - Tumbling Showcase

She has been taking tumbling for a few months and today was their big show.

Williams - 1/2 Marathon

Ashley

Meredith (Bryan's wife)

Bryan

Keren (Mom)

Herb on left

The 5 Williams 1/2 Marathoners

The rest of us raced in the car to mile 4 and mile 10 to cheer on our tired runners.

Boy are we tired!

Williams - I Can Breathe

Well, I can breathe easier. If it weren't for this seasonal allergy issue I am having which I have never had before I might be able to breathe easier. I survived an extremely busy couple of weeks.

I completed the last item on my agenda and that was teaching RS today in church. I taught a lesson on the Holy Ghost and it went really well. Atleast I felt great about it. Enrichment is over, Herb is home from his business trip, and my 4th year overnighter is done.

We had a few tent mishaps and bike crashes but other than that I would say it was a success. I will post a few classic photos from the event. One girl crashed so hard on her bike down a really steep hill because her brakes weren't working. I have never seen someone crash so hard in my life. We cleaned her up, got her a different bike, and she finished the rest of the trail. She was a trooper.

Herb and his friend Aaron (Our fearless Priesthood holders)

Tent with three wrong sized poles. This group of girls brought a gigantic tent and the wrong poles. Herb and Aaron had to figure something out with some rope and the poles they brought. This is the result of the Tepee Tent

Herb and I riding Tandum. Don't we look dorky!

Now the only thing I have left is to finish out my course for school. Two more weeks and then summer vacation. Anyone want to visit me?