Big news!

It has been a long time since I updated this. Lots has happened and I'll start with the annual Williams Family Reunion at Bear Lake, Idaho. It used to be at Bear Lake, Ut but they moved to the north side of the lake last year and the new campground is more grassy and less dirt-y. Clyde and Sandy brought us the new tent trailer to try it out and Dustin was completely sold. Its really nice and Clyde equipped it with a port-a-potty and some newer hoses so we had some running water. I've always been a tent camper so a trailer is a nice luxury. Alex liked the convenience of having an icebox and a bathroom along with the running water. I liked having a place thats not so hot for an afternoon nap.

The Saturday night skits were hilarious as always. Alex treated everyone to some dancing and some of Dustin's uncles did a great impression of ABBA.

The Ford handled the towing of the trailer admirably and we didn't really notice it was back there. Made for some interesting u-turns when we stopped for multiple bathroom breaks but no damage was done. Just exciting times.

Alex has started swimming lessons and might have his very first sunburn. He looked a little red tonight when he usually just turns brown. And gets platinum blonde hair to show off his blue eyes. He really looks like a surfer.

Now for the big news. We feel pretty good about sharing this but we'd also appreciate any prayers that things will be ok. We found out about 6 weeks ago that Alex is getting a little brother or sister in late January! Official due date is 2/4/10 but I'll be a repeat c-section so it will make its appearance about January 20th or so. There have been a few complications but we've been feeling very positive about everything so we decided it was ok to share here.

I won't be posting a belly shot any time soon since I seem to have grown much larger than I think 10 weeks should be but as soon as I feel like my stomach matches my week a little closer, I'll put one up. The one from 9weeks 3 days is just depressing. LOL!

Saving money

I've been on a big saving money on groceries kick lately. I read a blog called ShopSmartinVegas and go to a website called Grocery Smarts for a list from all the grocery stores and their ads and sale prices. They make it really easy and quick for me which is good because I have the attention span of a gnat for this stuff.

This is the first week they've had Vons and CVS on the list and I went to town! $173 worth of groceries for $75. I'm very pleased with myself and we are now stocked with lots of shampoo, conditioner and toothpaste. Among other things.

Let's here it for saving money!

20 Questions about our wedding/engagement

My sister posted this on her blog and I thought it was interesting and what woman doesn't LOVE talking about her wedding and engagement.

1. When did you get married? --November 10, 2007.

2. Was this your first marriage? --No

3. How long were you and your significant other together before getting married?--We met in April, he proposed in June and got married in November. So, we were together 7 months.

4. How did you meet your significant other? --We met at a church activity.

5. How did your engagement happen? Who asked who and how? --We went to Bear Lake for his family reunion and it was the first time I met any of his family. He waited until Sunday morning and we went for a drive around the lake and we pulled into an empty campground to relax. He said lots of wonderful things and asked me to marry him. I said yes. (obviously)

6. Did he ask the parents permission? --No, I didn't think he needed to.

7. Was the ring a surprise? Who picked it out? Would you ever get a new one? --No. I had a cocktail ring that he used since money was tight. The wedding band was a surprise and he bought me a new engagement ring for Valentines Day this year. I love them all and its fun to mix and match them.

8. Where was your wedding ceremony and/or reception? --We were married in the Las Vegas temple. Its fun to say we got married in Vegas. The reception was at a local restaurant.

9. What were your wedding colors? --Cream and deep purple. Surprisingly difficult to find that year. Everything was hot pink and brown.

10. What was the weather like on your big day? --BEAUTIFUL!!!! Not a cloud in the sky and even a bit warm for November.

11. Where did you go for pictures? --We had pictures on temple grounds before and after the sealing and some at the reception.

12. Did either of you get drunk? --No, we don't drink.

13. What was your wedding song? --We didn't have one. Dustin doesn't dance so we didn't have dancing.

14. What was your wedding favor/gift? --We didn't do wedding favors.

15. Did you smash the cake? --Nope. I spent too much time and money looking great and my cake was beautiful.

16. Wedding night? --We were making our way to Big Bear and stopped in Barstow.

17. Favorite part of your wedding day? --Being married at the end of the day to my husband.

18. Least favorite part? --How rushed everything felt.

19. Would you do it all again? --The only thing I would change would be to have a family gathering with the two families the night before and have assigned seating at the reception.

20. Where did you go on your honeymoon? --Big Bear. Gorgeous fall weather and very relaxing as it was between tourist seasons.

I know! I know!

I know its been forever since I last updated this. I've been so busy, I don't even have any pictures. Just boring words.

Work has been busy. I am in a small (3 of us) unit that does hospital billing for the county social services and we also handle COBRA payments for people who need help paying their premium. These two tasks don't look like much but they keep us plenty busy to the tune of 8000 bills were approved or denied in December with just the three of us.

I guess no one else thinks we do anything either since the powers that be asked us to help out and interview clients for two hours a morning. The equivalent of a full work day away from our assigned duties! After a month, we had a meeting with our supervisor and insisted we needed more time at our desks with our cases. That should calm down.

Dustin is spending the week in Utah helping his aunt and her business. I'll be joining him on Friday to spend Valentine's Day with the in-laws which to a normal person might be weird but I really like my in-laws and they have a hot tub so its all good.

Alex won second place in the school's Reflections contest in Literature and he walked away with a very impressive trophy for his efforts. He has been working on his magic tricks and has quite the show going. His favorite is the finger cutting one.

Things are going good and the spring is looking even better!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Alex had his first sleepover about two weeks ago. A little boy down the street form my parents house who I've known for 4 years now. Apparently it was his first sleepover too as his mom very very excited to drop him off.

Or maybe they were looking forward to a quiet evening, oldest child-free? Who knows.

The evening started with making english muffin pizza. I pre-cooked some Italian sausage for Dustin, grated some cheese and had a bowl of sauce on the counter for everyone to put on their muffin. Then, the idea that maybe giving 6 and 7 year old boys free reign over the pizza sauce distribution wouldn't be such a great idea, I proceeded to sauce and cheese the muffins myself and let them put on their toppings. They looked like this:
Very yummy and tasty. A great way to satisfy the unending appetites of growing boys.

After dinner, they went to play in Alex's room only for us to find various signs posted around the house.
And then they paraded around the house in a harmonica parade.

The sign on the front of the friend's shirt? It says 'Join the Buterfie Team'. I'm raising a macho son who chooses the name of his harmonica parade to be the Butterfly Team.

Darn right.

After that weekend, Dustin was able to get his Christmas present a little late.

See how delighted he is with his new HD radio component? Too bad it broke and we had to take it back a week later. But we did get an even better one that can go into the office and has a dvd player and a ipod dock. YAY!

Alex got a fish from his grandpa. He wanted to name it galoompf but I talked him into something easier. Meet Pip
So, it was a great holiday season and I'm glad my decorations are down and my living room is back to normal. If only it would warm up, just a bit. I'm shivering here!

December in Las Vegas is usually really nice. The January winds haven't really started and its chilly but not truly cold unless its 3 am and you should really be in bed before then anyway. For the most part.

Except for yesterday. It started out decent enough. Good cloud cover and the thought that if we got any snow it would be flurries in the north part of town. Those thoughts lasted until about 1:30 when the snow started. Didn't stick at first but by 3pm it was coming down and staying down. Wet, fluffy snow perfect for snowballs.

But I certainly didn't throw a bunch of snowballs at my 6 yr old son. Nope. Not me. Can't prove anything. Just like I can't prove that it was my loving husband who threw the big one that hit me right in the butt.

Pizza hut had a 2 1/2 hour delivery time so we decided to brave the 3 + inches of snow/slush and get some Little Ceasar's pizza. What is so delicious about pizza that is already waiting for you at the restuarant without having to call ahead? We actually did call ahead because we wanted Italian Cheese Bread and once you order that and wait for it, might as well splurge and get the deep dish pizza for $7 instead of $5. Yup, we're big spenders.

After stuffing ourselves with hot, gooey cheese and pepperoni, we walked over to the main street by the house to watch the police clean up an accident. People, if you start to skid, you have to turn INTO the skid. Going the other way will be very very bad. And a truck is more likely to flip over too.

The best part of the night was making our snowman. I think I'll name him George. He kind of looks like a penguin and the chocoapuff eyes and mouth will dissolve as soon as the snow starts to melt but I think he's cute.

Thats only about 1/3 of the snow in the backyard too. I had to brush off the poor palm trees before the pictures so they looked like palm trees and not lumps of snow. The flakes were so thick and coming so fast, they were covered again shortly but for a few minutes, they didn't have the weight of the world on their poor fronds.

Merry Christmas Las Vegas!

Busy month. I should have pictures galore to update with the next post. The new house, Halloween, our anniversary cruise and anything else thats cute. For now, all you get is words.

The house is great! The move was fairly easy but it would have been much easier to pretend we were moving farther away and didn't take smaller loads over. It would have been a better idea to buy more boxes and box everything up instead of boxing, driving across the street, unpacking and bringing the boxes back. Next time...

Its wonderful having a ton more room though! Alex was upset his room wasn't set up the way he wanted so we'll rearrange that and probably end up painting the guest room even though we swore it was just our room and the office. But now the rooms we didn't paint don't look nearly as good as the ones we did. We're awesome painters but its freaking hard work! The kitchen is almost put away, the living room looks great, alex's room is done except for moving some things and our room is almost done. The guest room and office aren't put together yet but those are different.

Halloween was fun. We attended our ward Trunk or Treat and discovered that the mummy costume I made wasn't very well made. Its easier to buy a costume when you don't sew very well...or at all... I made Alex divy up his candy to share.

Next week marks our one year anniversary! To celebrate, we're taking a short weekend cruise to the Bahamas. Its supposed to rain on Saturday when we have our kayak and snorkel excursion. I'll have to remember to pack a light jacket because even when its 80 degrees, its cold when you're wet. Let's all pray for the rain to go away. Even chant that song from when we were kids!

RAIN RAIN GO AWAY!
COME AGAIN ANOTHER DAY! Like when we're not on a second honeymoon. That'd be great.

Everything else? I'm not touching the election except to say that Alex pronounces Barack Obama's name as O'rourke Obama. Like he's Irish.