What have the Williams been doing?

So, it's been a little while....ok a long while, since the last post. Hopefully, I will write more frequently now that we are past the holiday busy-ness. On the other hand, it's getting close to February and our Christmas tree is still up....so, don't hold your breath.

In November, we celebrated Graeson's fifth birthday! He had a birthday party at McDonalds (the best place on the entire planet for a five year old boy) with a few of his friends. (Now his birthdays are now involving HIS friends, not just mom and dad's friends!) He got a new John Deere hat, multiple John Deere tractors, and a monster truck birthday cake. But the best present of all was.....GUM! He was hilarious just standing still, smiling pleasantly, very satisfied with himself, chewing. And chewing. He managed to walk and chew, but talking and chewing....well, that took a little more concentration. And, five year olds in the Williams house get a bedroom make-over, so he also has a new John Deere bedroom.

Later in November, we celebrated Thanksgiving with the extended Sharp family....20 people at the Williams house! (And that was only half of us!) Bryan and my cousin Cassie had a "turkey cook-off", we played a Thanksgiving trivia (some people got ultra-serious and studied ahead!), played "Guess Who Is Thankful", and of course ate, and ate, and ate some more. (Sorry Cassie, Bryan won the cook-off....but maybe next year!) Played more games, ate more, watched football, ate more....good times.
And then.....the Christmas season began. Of course THE most important Christmas item is Christmas music! Bryan thinks the rule is "no Christmas music until the day after Thanksgiving"....but the kids and I know otherwise (wink)! Kaela's school Christmas program occurred barely into December....December 1 as a matter of fact. She got a new Christmas dress in a hurry! Sing, sing, sing....onto the next event. Civil War football game (in Bryan's life, that should be a holiday!), weekend visit from friends in Reno, girls coffee craft night, Christmas tree hunting, snowflake parade, hospice Christmas party, church choir practice, Graeson's Christmas program, school Christmas tree lot, Bible study Christmas party, Patterson family Christmas (23rd), Sharp family Christmas (24th), Patterson-Sharp family Christmas (25th), Kaela's birthday (the short version), Williams family Christmas (26th), Kaela's and her cousin Tiffany's birthday party (27th), New Years Eve game night, New Year's Day homemade doughnuts....SIGH! I need a nap just writing about it! (This is exactly why we celebrate Kaela's birthday in June!)
And then January.....well, no rest for the weary! On January 8 my grandma (the kids call her G.G. for great-grandma) turned 90.....NINETY! She is amazing, and full of youth. We had been planning a big party for months, and I was in charge of the video-picture show. Let's just say, it turned into a bigger project than I anticipated, but well worth the work! The day before her birthday, my aunt (on the other side of the family) died suddenly. So my siblings and I were faced with a dilemma....Grandma's birthday (here in K-Falls), or Aunt Cathy's funeral (in Tacoma). Thankfully--mercifully--God miraculously worked it out that I was able to attend both. And the picture show was perfect. Everyone cried except Grandma. It was quite an emotional weekend celebrating 90 years of vibrant life, while also mourning the loss of a 53 year old life. God is good in both situations.Needless to say, last week, I got sick. And had a new onset of a high heart rate. Oh and high blood pressure too. So I was very thankful for five days off to REST. Sort of. (Did I mention the Christmas tree still needs to be taken down?)