"Harley-Davidson Mama!"

Check out my new image!
Randy and Nisha contributed the hot shirt and Val the cool shades.

My wheels and I are inseparable these days. They aren't much of a "Harley," but I'm thankful for them.

New Year's Day we had a full house with everyone here except Laura who stayed home not feeling well. Val and I always love to see our family together. We are so grateful for our six fine sons, whom we love very much and are so proud of, and we appreciate and love the wonderful young women who have come into our family through marriage. Each one has her own unique personality and gifts which enrich our lives so much. And each precious grandchild is so very treasured and loved. Just wish things were different for me as a grandmother - that I could be more involved with the children. Some of the little ones do like my Harley-Davidson, though.

New Year's Day was quite warm outside in spite of all the snow. The younger children had fun playing in the snow and on the swing set.

Here are a couple more pictures taken that day.

Val was in charge of the camera, and he didn't get pictures of everyone.

Playing Catch-up

Probably everyone has quit checking my blog since it has been so long since I added anything. My personal journal-keeping is almost as bad. I can't seem to get into the mood to write.
We had a nice Thanksgiving with all the family here except Kendall's bunch. The main attraction was the three sweet little babies, which the older girls enjoyed packing around. It was a joy for Val and me to see so many of our family members together, and was a great reminder of how much we have to be thankful for. We truly are blessed to have such a wonderful family. Each person is a precious treasure to us. There are thirty-three of us now.

The days between Thanksgiving and Christmas seemed to race by, and now Christmas is almost over for 2008 (it is after 6:00 p.m. Christmas evening). It was a very quiet day at our house, being just the two of us here most of the time. We were invited to Chad and Laura's and were looking forward to being with them, but the weather forecast and the looks of the weather this morning caused us to back out. When Andria found out that we were spending the day alone, she invited us to join them at her parents' home for dinner. Because of my mobility problems I had to say no, so she and her mother fixed up a nice meal, and Travis's family brought it when they came to visit this afternoon. It was so thoughtful of them, and the food was delicious.

We are hoping to have most everyone here for a few hours New Year's Day. Kendall's family is in Utah and will be here that day, so we have a little get-together in the making. Randy says they won't be able to come, though, so again we will be missing some. It's getting increasingly hard to all get together any more. It has been suggested that we change our family "do's" from alternating Christmas and Thanksgiving to having an activity during the summer. That seems like something we should consider. It would open up other options besides just gathering here at the house for a few hours and having a meal together.

It has been quite a while since I added an entry to my blog, but we had a nice event last Sunday that needs to be recorded. Aaron blessed their little Mathew Sherman. Most of the Williams and Crown families were there for the occasion. Val was manning the camera during the lunch, and he got a few good pictures but only one of the back of little Mathew. This picture was taken Halloween night when Aaron and Janele brought the kids to Summit to show us their costumes. He is a darling little guy.

In an earlier blog I wrote about Val spraying the paint off the top of his old Buick. He priced around to see about having someone repaint the car, or at least the top of it, and it was more
than he wanted to pay. So he prepared and spray-painted it himself. He's pretty proud of the results.

Marathon Success

Congratulations to Laura and Chad for completing the St. George Marathon last Saturday! Chad ran it last year, and Laura set a goal to do it with him this year. I think running and walking for 26 miles is quite an accomplishment.



Val took Aubree, Raina, and Brand to
St. George so they could watch their
mom and dad cross the finish line.









Here are some silly cousins having a good time together. Chad's kids, Aubree, Raina, and Brandt. Travis's kids, Lindsey, Brooke, and Cameron.





























The cousins ate pizza here and played a game. I knew something was up when they formed a line and started singing me a song. They had hatched up a sleep-over at Grandma's house and were singing for permission. Of course it was granted. It turned out, though, that instead of sleeping here, Chad's girls spent the night at Travis and Andria's. It's so neat that they have such fun together. Aubree and Lindsey are just two weeks apart in age, and Brooke and Raina are about three months apart. They are great friends with each other. Cameron and Brandt are only about six weeks apart, but they don't seem to have quite the connection that the girls do.

Precious New Baby!

We are so thrilled to welcome new little Mathew Sherman into the Williams family. He is the son of Aaron and Janele and joins his brother Aaron Solomon and sisters Valerie Ann and Mary Esther. He arrived October 1, 2008, weighing 8 lbs. 12 oz. and measuring 20 1/2 inches tall.

Here are some pictures of him with his

proud father and grandma.

Not Just Flakes

Val's poor old car! The white paint on 1994 Buicks was generally not good, so our's was just one of many that the paint started peeling off of when it was a few years old. Each year it has gotten a little worse, and a few months ago rust started growing on the bare spots on the roof. He thought about having a moderately cheap paint job done on it, but with the economic situation like it is, he decided to hold off for a while. But the roof definitely needed attention before it rusted clear through, so he thought he would clean up the spots and primer and paint them himself. Later he would probably have the entire car painted.

Someone suggested that he take it to a car wash and spray around the edges of the bare spots to remove any paint that might be loose. So, yesterday he did. To his amazement when the water hit it, the paint on the entire roof went flying away in big strips. This is what it looks like now. Pretty sad. Actually, we had a good laugh over it.

Val's Yard Work

The first cutting of the new back lawn happened last Saturday. We thought the occasion called for some picture-taking, so here is one of Val doing the job. Early this summer we bought a small table and set of chairs for the deck, and recently Val bought a picnic table for the patio. We're ready to party! It's getting pretty late in the season to do anything this year, but hopefully we will be able to take good advantage of it next summer.

Our front lawn has done well this summer. We finally bought a few shrubs to put between the front sidewalk and the house, and Val planted them this past Saturday. They can barely be seen from the road, but if the deer don't eat them this winter, they should start growing next spring. I want him to dig up the irises that are at the old house and plant them in with the shrubs. They aren't getting enough water and need to be moved from where they are.

The biggest problem with making the yard look nice is the space between the road and the ditch that is owned by the county. Val keeps the weeds mowed down most of the time, but as you can see from the picture, it is quite an eyesore. It's exciting, though, to see our home starting to look more established.