2011 kids pictures!!

It has been another year and it was time for the annual trip to the gardens to update my kids pictures.  I tried to go in November when there were still lots of leaves on the trees and lots of pretty colors, but that plan was frustrated.  Then it got cold... and wet... and no good for photos.  I finally went yesterday and these are my favorites.  They are all growing up so fast!

Clark - 18 months!

Being silly

Cute, but no smile

Mhari - 4 years old!

Such a big girl - no longer a toddler ;(

Sandra - 6 years old!

Wanted a better smile, but that one was blurry :(

Love those dimples!

Grant - 7, almost 8 years old!

So handsome!

Talmage - 9 years old!

What a big kid!

All 5 :)

My 3 boys!

My 2 girls... just one more to add in May ;)

So beautiful!

Oh, I love my kids - They are crazy, busy, fun, wild, and loud, but they make life wonderful.  I couldn't imagine my life without them!

Six Year old Chica!

Sandra turned 6 this last week!  It seems like she's just getting more grown up all of the time.  She had been counting down to her birthday - very cute ;).  I brought her a treat to her classroom at the end of school to share with all of her friends.  She really enjoys Kindergarten and is a great helper in her room (I keep hearing stories about how great she is :)).  

That night we had homemade pizza for dinner, opened presents and had dessert.  

Here she is getting ready for presents.

Homemade crown from mommy, and Repunzel stuff from Grandma and Grandpa.  

Sandra with all of her goodies.  She was very happy!

Yes, she had to try on the super long Repunzel hair.

And wear it for the rest of the evening... like blowing out candles :).  She had buckeyes for dessert because she didn't want cake... that was just fine with me!

And trying on the purple dress so she could really be Repunzel... I wonder if she likes Repunzel?!

Sandra is a great girl and we just really love her.  She is reading and getting more confident at it all of the time.  She is a good friend and loves others.  She is a great big sister!  We love you Chica!

The 4 Year old!

I think 4 is a hard age for me.  The child is old enough to understand house rules, not whine, do things by themselves, and enjoy being a big helper.   Unfortunately that often translates into taking advantage of time alone and getting into trouble as he/she tests the Mom boundaries!

I guess I need to stop whining about it and enjoy it because Mhari just turned 4!

She was so ready... she'd been acting 4 for a week :/.  Really, she is a fabulous daughter and we love her so much!  We had a fun time celebrating her birthday... 

Here she is right before she opened her presents.  What a poser!

Some of the gifts...
long hair from Sandra.

dress up dresses from mommy and daddy

dress up crowns from mommy and daddy

She had picked a pink cake with pink frosting... she really likes girl things ;)

All dressed up.

She also got littlest pet shop animals that her and her sister found homes on our little tree.  It was very cute!

Happy Birthday Punkin!  We love you!

All Decorated

Last week we went in search of a Christmas tree.  Last year we didn't put ours up... there wasn't room and we really wanted to focus on the nativity.  We were ready for a tree again and the kids had a great time helping decorate it.  It's a cheap, small, tree, but it works.  It's a fun time of year to celebrate and do fun things with the kids.  

Oh, and Clark made one cute elf too :).

Merry Christmas!!!  - From the Williams Family

Hungry?

We went out as a family last night to dinner.  It is always a treat for me to go out because that's one less night I have to cook dinner :).  We went to CiCi's Pizza, which is an all you can eat pizza place, if you didn't know :).  The kids ate, and ate, and ate.  I must say I did my fair share of eating too... it was all you can eat after all.  

Everyone finally finished and we headed home.  It was getting late and time for the evening routines of showers etc.  I went to get Clark for his bath and this is what I found...

Yup, that's him with an open bag of Cheetos that had been left out.  Evidently even after eating all he could eat a few cheetos could still fit.  

What a hungry little boy!  I was seriously surprised!  I couldn't resist the photos!  We love our little chunk!  I'm afraid to keep feeding my kids as they get into the teen years though!

11 Years into Eternity!

11 years ago I married my Handsome Prince.  The experience was wonderful and it felt like I had been waiting my whole life to marry him!

He is my Pepe :).  I love you Hunny!  


It's amazing how quickly time flies.  I see moms with one or two young kids and it seems like that was me not that long ago.  I realize these next 10 years or so will fly by with the kids growing and doing so much.  Eventually it will just be Jeff and I again.  I look forward to spending our days together, getting older, serving, and loving our growing family.  It gives me a glimpse of what eternity will be!


Happy 11 and here's to many many more!

Texas Sized Appetite!

While we were in San Antonio we decided we needed to visit Big Lou's Pizza.  They make 42 inch pizza's - oh, and lot's of other sizes too!  It is a pretty popular place and the wait time can be up to 2 hours.... crazy!  While we were there, waiting in line, I saw this sign (along with lots of other signs) ~

If you weren't sure you were in Texas, there's no question now ;).  

We decided that there would be no way that we would finish, or even get close to finishing, a 42 incher so we ordered a 36 inch pizza.  The people next to us had the huge one and I asked if I could take a picture.  This is what they had left after eating!

After a little wait - like an hour or so from ordering, our huge pizza arrived.  
We were so hungry I totally forgot to take a picture until we were eating...

One slice took up two plates!  It was awesome... oh, and tasted amazing!

Clark was starving and I couldn't keep him fed fast enough :).

The pan size of our pizza.  There wasn't much room left on our table :).

Jeff staring on a fresh slice... see how huge it is?!

Seriously if you are in San Antonio and want some amazing pizza and don't mind a little wait I totally recommend Big Lou's.  We even had a few slices left over for the next day's lunch... it filled a whole pizza box :).  

Our other big eating fun was in Round Rock, just north of Austin on our way home.  We visited Round Rock Donuts for our Texas sized Donut!  

The line wasn't too bad, probably because of the holiday weekend and the drizzly weather.  Once we got our donut and made it out to the car we ate it so fast that I of course forgot to take a picture :(.

However, since Grandma and Grandpa were with us they had ordered their own so I got a picture of the full size donut to share with you.  

If you can't tell it fills the whole pastery box and is probably as big as a whole dozen!
And yes, it was delicious!  Grandma and Grandpa also shared some other tasty donuts that they bought.  It was fun to try the huge Texas food.  I guess it's true, everything really is bigger in Texas :)

Thankful for ... Sea World!

For Thanksgiving this year we took a family trip out to Sea World.  It was our first time going - and the kids were super excited!  It was all decorated for Christmas and all of the shows were Christmas themed... such fun!  The weather was perfect too!  What a great time.  My kids are such animal lovers that this really was a great trip for them.  We also invited Jeff's parents to join us... the kids got to enjoy a trip and Grandparents for Thanksgiving!!

Here we are in the main entrance Thanksgiving day.  We are excited to get going on all the attractions!

Right outside the entrance there is this display area for their summer water park area.  They had baby Manta reys for the kids to "pet".  They were soft, or slimy, depending on who was describing them :)

Then we came to this water splash down ride.  The kids wanted to watch it.  I thought they might enjoy getting a little wet... so they went and stood in the splash zone.  
See how wet the cement is!  Oh, here comes the boat!

Mid splash picture! - notice how most of the kids are running away. 

Let's just say that the HUGE splash scared baby and soaked him pretty good and Grant didn't dry out til that night.  That night the boys did go on the ride with Jeff and his dad... and they got wet, but not as wet as this.  They really liked it - and went again :)


The kids found some cute ducks and flamingos.  They fed them too :)

Jeff helping Clark feed the ducks.  He was so cute ;).

While waiting for the Sesame Street show to start the people behind us had some popcorn and a 2 year old son.  They offered to share with Clark.  Let's just say Clark really liked it... and wouldn't stop "sharing".  Grandpa went and bought a couple of bags to share and Clark was very happy!  He got to sit with Grandma and Grandpa and bond over food.

We went and found the dolphins and showed up right at feeding time!  The kids had fun getting so close to the dolphins :).
Grant giving it a fish.

Jeff with Mhari.

Talmage and Clark

We visited the aquarium area also right at feeding time...

See the guy inside the tank!  It was cool to see him pet the sting rays and feed all the fishies!

Then we found the sharks!

Oh, and let's not forget Santa Shamu :)

While waiting for the kids to ride some rides Clark shared his popcorn with Grandma :)

The little roller coaster the kids went on.

And the carousel...

I stood and helped Clark ride his horsey.  So cute :)

Then there was the dolphin show.  It was pretty cool.  We saw Beluga whales, synchronized swimmers, lots of cool dives and jumps, etc.  

Oh, and let's not forget the penguins.  Sandra found the little animal she wanted as a souvenir.  The next day we came back and all the kids got to pick an animal for their Christmas present from Grandparents.  Sandra got the penguin, Talmage got a beluga, Grant picked a shark, Mhari got a dolphin... and Jeff got a huge Shamu :).  He's still a kid at heart ;)

Clark looking at the penguin exhibit. 

Oh, and let's not forget the carnival games.  
I wanted Jeff to do the test your strength game - where you hit the hammer on the target and try to ring the bell.  He did really well... 92 out of 100.  The guy running it has only seen 1 person win it and otherwise has only seen a 91... so Jeff's pretty awesome, but I already knew that ;).  He made the 300 lb body builder who went before him look pretty bad - obviously he didn't know how to swing a sledge hammer!

Jeff with his prize - little penguin.

The Shamu show!  There were 3 of the orcas.  It was a fun show to watch!

Too bad we didn't get wet while sitting in the "splash zone" :(.

Day 2 - Daddy and Clark 

 Looking at the sea lions 

Cute sea otter!

Swimming sea lions

Mhari wanted her picture taken... so she posed like this for me :).

Clark posing too.

This is in the animal sanctuary... and the older kids were holding a huge snake... which I wasn't allowed to take pictures of :(.  


We had a fabulous time and the kids really loved all of the rides, food, and animals...  Yay for Sea World!!