Christmas Memories

So I thought you might enjoy seeing a few Christmas pictures. It was another great Christmas. We have all had the stomach flu since then, but enjoyed a healthy Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We love you guys and want you to know that we are thinking about you.



Lincoln did something new this Christmas. We would wake up every day to our tree not decorated. Linc would neatly place all the ornaments in a box. The kids became accustomed to decorating the tree again first thing every morning.




This is our kids and their cousins performing the famous Christmas play. Cora of course is the visionary and has jobs and roles for everyone. They rehearsed for weeks, so as you can imagine, it was magnificent.




This is what Rick and I look like after being kept awake all night long by our cute Lincoln. We finally fell asleep at 5am, and the kids kindly woke us at 6am declaring it was time to get up. I still feel a little dizzy.




The kids just before seeing all the Santa magic. Even Aspen lucked out with new p.j.s this year.

A FABULOUS SKI WEEKEND!

We had such a wonderful weekend at Keystone these past few days. I just had to share some pictures because we now have three kids that ski in our family, and each one loves it. Cora, Lincoln and Brigham all LOVED skiing. I think we were the most shocked by Lincoln, because we have never really talked to him about skiing nor has he really ever seen anyone ski. He could not wait to get on the hill and start. It was really exciting for Rick and I. It has always been our dream to have a skiing family, and look at us, well on our way. The other amazing thing is that if you look at these pictures, Linc will blow you away. He was so aware, and excited, and with us, that it just comes through in these pictures. Our own little Christmas miracle.


MY FAVORITE SKIIERS


LINCOLN AND HIS AMAZING TEACHER, RICK!


THE BOYS SKIING FOR THEIR FIRST TIME


BRIG DOING AN AMAZING SNOW PLOW



PROOF THAT LYDIA AND MARISA WERE THERE TOO!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Hey everyone,

It seems so strange not to be able to call Grandma today. My kids have come up with a great new tradition for our family. They have declared December 2 the day that we set up Christmas decorations in honor of Grandma. I thought it was such a nice gesture that we are setting up Christmas today when they get home from school. They wanted grits for breakfast and they want to have fried chicken for dinner.

I can't help but think what an amazing woman she was. Here are her great grand children insisting that she continue to be celebrated. That is such a reflection of her amazing personality and love that we all felt when we were with her.

I hope that you are all doing well. I remain so grateful for grandma in my life. I think we are all so lucky to have had a grandma like her.

Lots of love during this christmas season,

Marisa

Lauren won 1st Place!

Lauren wrote a sweet, little story called "Grace and the Ugly Cowboy." She entered it into the Reflections contest for her school. We went to the Reflections open house last night and saw that she won 1st place for the literature category! She was thrilled and we are so proud of her!! Way to go La-Dee-Dah!

Williams Family Halloween Pics

Here are of the latest photos of the Williams kids. We had a great Halloween. Thomas was a grumpy old man with a walker and the sign, "Keep off my lawn!" Lauren was Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, Christian was a pirate and Sophie was a pink princess.











The kids had fun decorating pumpkins with Christian and Kara. Overall it was a great year!

Happy Halloween!

Last night Christian and I went to a couple of parties. It was a lot of fun and we invited Nate and Clay Bowen and a couple of guys I met to go with us. Just wanted to share a few pictures from the night. Lots of love to you all!

Kara

Trip to the Tetons

I just got back (literally 45 minutes ago) from my trip with Matt up to the Tetons. It was absolutely beautiful. We camped by a lake called Lake of the Mountains and went 4-wheeling on Friday and Saturday. I met Matt's brother and his Uncle and his family. I also reacquainted myself with his sister. They are a great family and I was put at ease quickly.

The setting was gorgeous and we would ATV up to lakes and snow packs and places that you normally wouldn't visit on foot. It was a fun trip but I have never been so dusty and dirty in my entire life. Nor have I eaten as many hotdogs as I did over the weekend. Oh and the mosquitoes were horrible and I have a ton of bites -especially on my buns :(.





I dropped off Matt at the Jackson Hole airport and began my trip home Sunday afternoon and that was sad. But I got over it, filled up the tank with gas and headed home. Then suddenly I started to notice that I didn't recognize where I was and suddenly I am in Montpelier, Idaho. That sucked rocks -apparently I am one who always needs clear directions when driving. It added an hour to my drive home, but I was able to speed past Sweetwater Condos and have flashes of memories of our trips there -roller skating, the witch who stuck needles in you, skiing, and playing in the pool and hot tub. Great times.

If you are dying for an update on me and Matt, there isn't one. The weekend was a lot of fun and we won't see each other for another month, but that is okay. We both have big tests next week (Bar & GMAT) and then we are both headed on big trips -me to Sweden and Denmark, Matt to Cambodia and Thailand. It would have been fun if we could have worked it so I could have done both, but the trips are at the same time. Oh well.

Love you all lots and I'm excited when I have time again just to sit and talk.

Kara

Happy Fourth of July

HEYA,

We had a really fun weekend. We went to the four corners area and stayed in Cortez one night. The next day we visited Mesa Verde and the ancient Aztec (or Publeons) cliff dwellings. That was really amazing to see. Its crazy to think they had nothing and were still able to do so much. I can't imagine how they got there sick, old or really young people up there. It would take a lot with modern convenience. The kids had a really great time.

The next day we went to Telluride, a cute little ski town in Colorado. That whole area is so beautiful. We took the kids on a pretty hard hike up to a really beautiful waterfall. It took well over an hour to hike up to it, all up hill, and the kids were such troopers. We were so proud of them. On the fourth we went to the main street parade, which reminded me a lot of Park City. The kids loved the candy of course and Lincoln was only able to tolerate the whole experience because he was the "Candy Lord" and hoarded every piece. Thankfully our kids are so nice that they brought every piece to him.

Later that day we took a Gondola ride and accidently got off at the first stop. Who knew there were three stops? So, like the crazy people we are, we "death marched" the kids on another, some might say much harder hike to the mountain village. That was really hard because none of us had the right shoes on. We were all wearing sandals. But our kids are little warriors and did a great job again. We rewarded them with the most expensive ice cream cone on earth. Totally worth it. The mountain village was really wonderful. We rode the Gondola back down ... we aren't that cruel. Plus, I could not have handled it ... my poor toes were all blistered.

That night I took Cora and Brig to the fireworks display. We got caught in a rain storm, but once it passed, the fireworks were really great. The setting was so spectacular. It was in a field at the base of a canyon so the back drop to the fireworks was three pine filled mountains and a full moon. It was so beautiful.

Linc has had awful allergies. His ear looks like Will Smith's ear in Hitch when he has the allergic reaction. And a few days ago his eyes were so bad, that I actually took him into an acute care clinic because I was so worried. His eyes were swolen shut and his whites were inflamed and turned yellow ... yummy! So we did not subject him to a fireworks display.

Well, we love you guys and miss you.  Love, Marisa, Rick, Cora, Linc, Brig, Lyds and baby

Lauren's Baptism

I wanted to share some photos from Lauren's baptism last Saturday. It was such a nice day and we really appreciate everyone making such an effort to share this day with us. Sorry again for the delay with lunch and the uncooked chili beans...I was really not trying to hold you all hostage!! Thank heavens for my visiting teacher and her pressure cooker...and of course thanks to our hero Mom!!

Lauren had a really nice day and her baptism has already had an impact on her. She seems much softer and loving.


Bentley Family, we were sad that you were not here for the festivities, but I wanted to be sure to openly thank Marisa for all she did to help with Lauren's baptism book and DVD. It turned out so great. I can't thank you enough for taking so much time to put that together for me. You are great!!



The kids are out of school and it has been fun to have them around. The weather has been so dumb here in SLC. Savanna and Steve, are you responsible for bringing Seattle's weather back to Utah?? Oh well, I guess one plus to 65 degree rainy weather is that apparently none of us will get skin cancer this summer.



Still no movement on the sale of our home. I am trying not to get discouraged. Please keep us in your prayers!! Have a great week!

Done

That's all I have to say. I survived the last three years and ended my last final of my law school career just now. I feel mixed emotions, but mostly relief. It's crazy. Now on to the bar! Eeek!

I can't thank you all enough for the love and support and prayers. I could not have made it through without you guys.

I love you!

Dear Elder and Family

This has been a great week. First we met you at the airport with Clay and Sabrina. It was fun to see you. It was really important for Clay and Sabrina. After the airport, we took the whole family including Clay and Sabrina, to Dennys for breakfast. The service was a little slow, but we had a great time.

The following are pictures of the elders and a young couple from Sabrina's ward that set in on the various lessons. I like the elders and the young couple. On Sunday we went to Sabrina's Ward for the confirmation. I thought it was all exciting. There was a neat feeling in Sacrament meeting. She has a neat Bishop and Stake President. I thought the day was perfect except that Josh is being a little possive and that is very hard on Sabrina.

The next is a picture of Sabrina and me just before she was baptized. It was a great experience. I think Sabrina will be a great member of the church. I hope they assign her to the young women.


This evening we had the family over for supper except for those out of town. We have decided to do an annual Thompson day at the Temple. We will plan it when most can come.

McCormack, your mission is blessing us all. Thank you for the sacrifice. I can't tell you how much love we all felt for the missionaries that taught Sabrina. I think there will be an eternal conncetion.

We had Jazz tickets, but after the Baptism, Kathy and I were too tired to go. So McSean and Kara went. The Jazz were not very good and Koby was sensational. Even so they had a great time.

We love and miss you. Love the Lord. We are all blessed here. I am going to figure out how to better use the blog. But for now, this must do.

Love Dad

Other Miscellaneous Pictures

Recipe From Marisa

Hey Everyone,

Here are two recipes that we used this week that I really like. These enchiladas are soooo good. And I dream about this sauce for a vanilla cake.  Enjoy! Thanks for all the phone calls about Clyde too. We have a really nice family. Love you lots, Marisa

YUMMY GREEN CHICKEN ENCHILADAS

1 lb. Chicken

¼ cup Sour Cream

1 Onion Chopped

4-5 Green Chilies Roasted

1 Big can Las Palmas Green Enchilada Sauce

Flour Tortillas

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup

Colby Jack Cheese

  Cook Chicken and shred. Put back in the pan and add cream of chicken soup, and a little milk if too thick.  Add onions and chilies.

Simmer 20 minutes. Place green enchilada sauce on pan – roll tortillas with chicken mix and add cheese inside. Cover with enchilada sauce and cheese.

 Bake at 350° covered for 30 minutes.

HOT LEMON SAUCE FOR CAKES

2 cups Water

1 cup Sugar

2 ½ Tbsp Corn Starch

2 Dashes of Salt

2 Tbsp Butter

3 Tbsp Lemon Juice

Grated Lemon Rind

Mix all of these ingredients in a heavy saucepan.  Stir constantly over medium heat with a wire whisk. When it comes to a light boil, it is ready. Spoon the mixture over a yellow or vanilla cake. The cake does not have to be home made, a Betty Crocker cake mix is just fine!

 

 

CLYDE, EL CLYDO, CLYDIE, CLYDE DOG, CLIPPITY

Hey Everybody!

Our cute Clyde dog died this morning. He was sick around 2 a.m., and I could tell he was not going to make it long. After I took him out at 2, he never could make it back upstairs. He was still very sick at 6 a.m. with really labored breathing. He had enough energy to go outside, but never came back in. Thank heavens the kids were around. We brought out his bed, a bowl of water, and Cora gave him the coat off her back. He got up 3 different times, to find the perfect place to die. He found it at our gate. When he died at 7:15 this morning, he was laying in the only spot in the yard, where there was sun. It was really beautiful and super sad. There have been a lot of tears in our house and in Minnesota (Rick is there for business). 

I had to do something that I have never wanted to do, and that is take care of a dead dog. But, since it was Clyde, it felt more like a privilege than a burden. We had a nice memorial for him and sent him off with lots of love.

Clyde was such a part of our family that we really wanted to share our loss with all of you.

Lots of love, and thanks for your phone calls. It has helped tremendously. Marisa, Rick, Cora, Lincoln, Brigham and Lydia

My Dear Family

Well I decided to blog but it did not work out so well. I spent most of the evening just figuring out how to get on the blog and then the rest of the time trying to upload pictures. It was unpleasant. And I never did figure out how to do it.

We go to see Corm in the morning. He leaves at 7:00. I hear they discourage seeing the missionaries off, but it is hard to imagine that he will be at the airport and that we would not go to see him.

Sabrina is going to be baptized on Saturday. She is pretty excited. I figured out how to print photos today, so that part was good. I have a photo of Sabrina at the temple which I printed.

Somehow I just found a way to upload a picture. It is Lydia when she was 16 years old. I love this picture. Lydia was a wonderful person. She was so loving and full of fun. I really miss her.



This is a picture of Kathy and I and John Vogel at dinner in New York. We ate at the Bulls and Bears Steakhouse in the Waldorf Astoria. John is doing well and said hi to everyone. We had last years photo album and went over every picture with him. He knows you all by name and asked lots of questions. He looks good, but sort of struggles a little bit with life. It was fun to see him again.
This is a picture of Uncle Lee and Sally. Lee looks quite different and he has a hard time talking. But his eyes were alert and still full of fun.





This is a picture of my cousin Dick. He is Marion's son. My dad's older brother. He lives in Bountiful, Utah. I think he has 4 children; all girls; but my memory may be wrong. Thanks to Marisa we are making contacts with the Thompson family. We are hoping to have a family reunion in late August of early September. Is there a date that works better for you?




I tried to upload some of the other images, but for some reason the computer says it is a DO file and it will not let me upload. I will get better. Maybe Savanna can help. I intend to blog every week.

Love, Dad

Alecia is blogging...just not here...

Hi everyone! How fun that Kara continues to keep us posted on her life. Thanks for always contributing Kara. At least you can feel comfort in knowing that your lonely posts are always read. Given that I never contribute to this blog, it may come as a shock that I have started a new blog. It is not a Williams family blog...baby steps for me.

I have decided to start a blog with tips for keeping your house clean and orderly. I would never say that I have this completely figured out, but I do enjoy cleaning, so figured that if I have something to say, I should just say it. So, I started a blog. It is called "real cleaning for real women." Here is the link: http://realcleaningforrealwomen.blogspot.com

We'll see how it goes. Check it out and please let me know if you have any ideas or suggestions...or even criticisms. Let me know!!!

Lots of love!
Alecia

Pics

Family,

I am thinking of changing the name of this blog to "Kara's Blog". I'm not sure if anyone reads these other than me -although I'll give a shout out to Joy Millet because I think she reads these too.

Life is really good here. The rain has stopped for the most part and the summer fog has not rolled in yet. The days are clear and sunny but the wind is crazy cold. Still, I'll take cold, windy and sunny over rainy or foggy.

A couple of weeks ago I took Matt to "law prom". It was fun, but typical -lots of drinking, loud music, stuffy room. It was at a club and it was Matt's first visit to a club. We had a good time but it was definitely time to leave after an hour. The picture above is from law prom.

A couple of Sundays ago Matt, his roommate Chris (who is so crazy similar to our brother Christian that it freaks me out sometimes), and I went down to Baker Beach and walked around. It was a beautiful day. We saw a few dead jelly fish washed ashore, skipped rocks and Matt and Chris tried to lift very large rocks over their heads. I took pictures, but haven't taken the time to put them on my computer and I am feeling too lazy to do that right now.

Easter Sunday was really nice. My friend Caleb, from school, attended church with me and then stayed with us for the afternoon/evening for Easter dinner and hanging out. It was a nice day. We had a bunch of people from the ward over to Matt's house along with one of his co-workers and Caleb. Matt cooked a ham and scalloped potatoes and I made a huge salad and fruit salad. I was supposed to make homemade rolls, but my roommate was hogging the mixer Sunday morning so I scrapped that plan and used some Pillsbury rolls I had on had instead. I still want to try the roll recipe since I bought all the ingredients. Maybe after finals I'll give it a whirl.

That's about all I have to report. Matt's probably driving back to SLC with me Memorial Day weekend and then will fly back to San Francisco. I could fly, but I think the drive will be fun for us -and it will cost only about $100 more to drive than to fly and ship all my stuff home. And I get Matt for a couple more days -well worth the extra money I think.

I love you all!

Kara

A Bit of Grandma Helen in Me

We know it is there -we all have a bit of Grandma Helen in us and my bit oozed out on Friday. I was waiting on a corner of San Francisco for a walking tour and there was a group handing out Coke Zero. So of course I went up and grabbed one and stuck it in my purse. Then I started thinking, hmmm, I'd really like to have one to drink now and one to take home later but how do I do that when these guys know I already have one? I decided to do what Grandma would do -I just walked up and said I'd like another. They hesitated but I pointed out that they were free so I got one. Then my walking tour began and as we walked by the Coke Zero people, I noticed that a girl was giving the drinks away -there had been a changing of the guard! I took advantage of the opportunity, took another can and stuck it in my purse. Yes, Grandma Helen would be proud as I got 3 whole cans out of the deal.

I'm not sure, but I think Grandma Marge would be rolling in her grave right now -I know dad probably is a bit embarrassed :). But then again, maybe she'd laugh.

Time is winding down here for me in beautiful San Francisco. So now is the time to visit me -or forever hold your peace. I've learned about some great places in the city that I could share with you if given the opportunity.

Lots of love,
Kara -those sole consistent poster on this lonely family blog

Quick Spiritual Thought

I was at Institute tonight and we were talking about gifts of the Spirit. My teacher read a quote from Marvin J. Ashton and I thought I would share it with each of you. I also sent it to Corm because I think it has a great message. The quote is from Elder Ashton's October 1987 conference address "There Are Many Gifts."

He said, "From the Book of Mormon, particularly 3 Nephi, chapters 11 through 26 [3 Ne. 11–26], when the Savior Jesus Christ showed himself to the people on the American continent, many gifts are referred to as being very real and most useful. Taken at random, let me mention a few gifts that are not always evident or noteworthy but that are very important. Among these may be your gifts—gifts not so evident but nevertheless real and valuable.

Let us review some of these less-conspicuous gifts: the gift of asking; the gift of listening; the gift of hearing and using a still, small voice; the gift of being able to weep; the gift of avoiding contention; the gift of being agreeable; the gift of avoiding vain repetition; the gift of seeking that which is righteous; the gift of not passing judgment; the gift of looking to God for guidance; the gift of being a disciple; the gift of caring for others; the gift of being able to ponder; the gift of offering prayer; the gift of bearing a mighty testimony; and the gift of receiving the Holy Ghost.

We must remember that to every man is given a gift by the Spirit of God. It is our right and responsibility to accept our gifts and to share them. God’s gifts and powers are available to all of us."

These less conspicuous gifts are great reminders of what we need to be doing with our lives and what we should be striving for. I would like to point out that Eliza can be secure in knowing that she has the gift of weeping ;).

I love you all! Give yourselves hugs from me.

Lots of love,
Kara

Reality Check

I've been back for a little over a week and it feels like an eternity. I think this past week went as slow as my first week of law school. It was painfully long.

The other day I took a longer route to walk to the train station so that I could enjoy the day and the beautiful weather we are having. As usual I passed a number of homeless people on the streets and I was reminded of how lucky I am to have a home, food, and a family that loves me. Right before I entered the station I saw an older Asian woman sitting on the ground, apart from the crowd. Her face was painted with strange face paint and she looked so forlorn and sad. She was just sitting there and people were passing her as if this was normal -even I did it. None of us stopped to see if she needed help or comfort. I haven't been able to get her off my mind and I wonder what her story was -why was she so sad, why was her face painted, why was she alone.

I started thinking, what if I were the one sitting on the ground, waiting for someone to notice me. What if nobody did. What a sad thought. My reality check came that I am so caught up in my own life so much of the time and not caught up in the lives of those around me. This isn't to say that I should stop and talk to everyone who looks a bit blue; if I did that I wouldn't stop talking to people. But I should be more aware of people around me and try to reach out more to them.

The countdown to my end in San Francisco has begun and sadly it will come much sooner than I anticipated. I'm not ready to leave.

My other reality check came when I realized that my pedometer was crediting me with an extra mile or so of running each time I ran. All along I've thought I was running just under 3 miles when low and behold I was running just under 1.5 miles. Crazy. So today I used a mapping tool and ran 3.3 miles (okay so I walked about 4 blocks worth of those three miles, but I felt pretty good that I actually did it. My goal is to run 3 miles, 3 times per week. (I'm just trying to keep up with the other Kera in the family.)

I love you all!

Lots of love,
Kara

Back in San Francisco

Dear Family,

I made it back to San Francisco and landed to a clear blue sky and 70 degree weather. Amazing. It's good to be back and to start myself in a routine again. That being said, the month-long vacation was amazing and I am so blessed to have such a wonderful and caring family. I had such a great time and am thankful for each of you. It's funny how such a long time can pass so quickly and at the end I can feel like I didn't spend enough time with the family.

On the plane ride I started to read the book I received from Santa for Christmas A Single Life by Kristen Oaks. She has a comment that I thought was really funny that I want to share because I think it is a very true statement, at least in our family. "Not being married becomes a family affair...every relative seems affected by their single state." Just thought that was funny.

I'm excited to see all of you in a few short weeks! We should do a family picture (minus the in-laws because we wouldn't want to buck tradition by having them involved ;)).

Corm, I am so proud of you and look up to you as an example. Sorry that my book entry sucks. I'll try and write an addendum and send it to you so that your companions and your posterity won't think of me as the sister who had nothing to say to you about your mission. Duh.

I love you all!

Kara