WE MOVE IN TOMORROW!!

Well we were supposed to close on our house today, but with the horrible weather in Portland the lady from Key Bank didn't even come to work let alone get all the paperwork sent in for our closing soooooooo....we will be signing tomorrow instead. I CAN'T WAIT!!!

The picture is kind of dark, so I will get some better ones after we move in, but it's finished!!

We are so excited to spend Christmas time in the new house and can't wait for VISITORS!!! Grandma Gog will hopefully be coming very soon, and Grandma Sandy and Poppa will be coming the end of January!! Woohooo!

WE ARE SO BLESSED!!! Merry Christmas Everyone!

Sam is walking!!!!

Just a quick post to let everyone know Sam is walking!! Here are a couple of pictures for proof. :)

Oh and her hair is finally long enough to put in pig tails!!!!! wooohooo!! Here is a little video here of her walking too! We love and miss everyone!

Winter is here!

We had our first snow storm a week ago and the snow is still on the ground...burrr! I took some pictures of Andy because Samantha wouldn't stand or sit in the snow yet, (she cried) LOL.

That is the only snow thus far but this weekend the high on Sunday is supposed to be -5 so we will keep the hot chocolate handy. :)

Thanksgiving (Finally)

Oh my goodness, I am finally getting around to blogging our wonderful trip to Grandma Gog's! We had such a wonderful time, even with all the people I can't remember the last time I felt so relaxed, we are so blessed to have such wonderful family. When we first got there of course Jeremy had to pull out the riding lawn mower and give the kids a ride....

Sam just taking in the scenery!

Andy just had to steer!

Then it was time to start fixing stuff because as we all know Jeremy can't sit still for too long! So Scott, Jer, and even Quinn got in the action. First, trying to fix the toilet then installing a new kitchen faucet. Jeremy loved every second of it, because he loves his family so much.

All because he couldn't sit still!

This is what TEAMWORK is all about!

Cousin Pictures!!! Andy was so excited to share this time with his cousins, especially Nate whom he didn't let out of his site for almost 5 days.

From the moment Sam saw Brittanie she couldn't stop hugging her....

We had a great time at the Festival of Lights, it was Andy's first time and boy was he excited. What great memories!

And last but not least, Grandma Gog made sure we had a REAL party for Sam's 1st birthday with cupcakes, frosting, and lots of fun.

Lots of fun, LOTS of food, lots of games, lots of family. We had such a wonderful time and are looking forward to so many more fun times now that we are a little closer. I am so lucky that I married into such a wonderful, fun, loving, and close knit family! Thank you so much for everything Grandma Gog!

Sammie is #1

We had a little birthday party for Sam tonight.
She got a "baby" from Grandma Sandy and Grandpa Hugh.

She loved it so much, she was talking and jabbering up a storm.

She has never cared when Andy takes the toys that she has.
She has never cared when we take the toys that she has away.

Andy tried to take her baby....she threw a holy FIT.
Andy tried to give her other toys (look, something shiney :D) she threw a fit.

She loved her baby very much. Good choice Grandma!!!!

We are going to do a full party during Thanksgiving and will update soon with those pictures and stories.

I HATE THIS HOUSE!!!!!

We cannot wait until this stage of our housing project is over.
Our little house is ok for a stage, and I don't want to sound spoiled, but I want to unpack our stuff.
We go out to the new house daily and have taken a few pictures along the way and wanted to share the progress with everyone.

Foundation poured and the basement framed

Main Floor joists layed and foundation back filled Saturday 22nd



Total framed, plumbing roughed in, electrician was starting 11/25 9:30am


roofing sheeting going on.


roof felt down, totally sheeted, electrical done, plumbing completed. garage framing starting11/25 4:30 pm

I am very excited for the house to be done. I just want to be able to get dressed without waking Sam(cause she is sleeping in the masterbed room walk-in closet). Be able to shower without waking a child cause this house is so small. Walk to the bathroom without waking someone (cause EVERY DAMN BOARD IN THIS HOUSE CREAKS.....ARRRRRGGGGGGG). Be able to eat dinner and see what I'm eating.(cause it is so dark in this house). Be able to watch TV in the masterbed room.

I didn't think that these were that important. But they are.

I am so excited that we are going to have enough room for Grandma's and Grandpa's to come and visit and not have to sleep in the garage.

Hope to see you all soon.

Weekends are always the Best!

We had so much fun this last weekend! We relaxed, we watched movies, and then me and the kids decided we wanted to show Jer some of the cool stuff we do during the week, so....we started off at the kids museum. (So Jer could be a kid) and then we went to the carousel for a ride and some ice cream. Andy and Jeremy had a blast!

Sunday rolled around and I didn't feel like making lunch for everyone (who really ever feels like cooking on a Sunday? or is it just me?) So it was all about the Wendy's $1 menu for lunch. FRENCH FRIES should be a food group, really it should. We had a wonderful lunch of nuggets and fries, I think Sam ate a whole order by herself. And then my boys decided it was time to be members of the GREAT POOBAH!

Since we had a buzz from all the grease from our fries we decided it was time to go for a ride in the living room on the cardboard box EXPRESS! Thomas the Train has nothing on Jer!!

Truly this is what weekends should always be like!

Like Father, Like Son

Wow he is just like his dad! Today Andy kept looking at his rocket saying "me work momma, me work" I was like what???

I finally figured out he needed a tool to fix his rocket. Just like his dad. Wow!

Of course Samantha had to get in on that action!

He fixed his rocket and was very proud of himself. Good job Andy!! I miss you guys already, be safe this weekend and have fun with Grandma Gog and Aunt Nat!! I LOVE YOU!

What to do in Helena?

Well Jeremy always usually does the posts cause he says, "It's man scrapbooking" but I thought since I am now a "stay at home mom" and have more time on my hands I would do a post with just a little peek at what me and the kids do during the day.

When we first got here to Helena I got some really good advice from some friends about being a stay at home mom that I am taking to heart.

1.) Be consistent, don't give in when it is something important.
2.) Routines are very important, nap at the same time everyday, eat lunch at the same time, etc.
3.) Get out the pens, coloring books, paints, games, puzzles, books and PLAY PLAY PLAY.

4.)Take some time for yourself...you will be a much better mom

(Thanks Nikki and Lisa)
I gotta say that first week, I was seriously ready to go back to work. 40 hours a week at a new job would be cake. But, with some good advice and a little creativity I really love being a mom. What more could I ask for...we are so blessed as a family and I have a wonderful husband who is giving me this opportunity. I LOVE YOU JER!

We are now proud members of the local Childrens Museum and go to activities two times a week, Crafts on Tuesdays, and story hour on Thursdays. We have also found a local carousel that the kids love (pictures to come) and lots of play structures that have lots of slides.

We did a tour of the local YMCA today and hope to join there soon for swim class, mommy and me tumbling and YOGA for the kids LOL. They have a really great facility here that we are very excited about.

I went to my very first Enrichment class last week and enjoyed some wonderful home made soup and WATCHED everyone else sew lol, but was able to help with some humanitarian hygiene kits. (at least I helped a little) Everyone at the church is super friendly and made me feel at home, it was a blast!

Anyways, I guess I should wrap it up. I just gotta say that even though I do miss friends and family this opportunity has been wonderful and I really am the most luckiest woman alive.

Jer, I hope you know that although I don't say it all the time, I am so very proud of you and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving me this time with my precious babies. They grow up so fast and I get to see it all! I don't know what I would do without you. You are my rock and I will treasure you always.

I will end with a video of what the kids really think of this strange place that we have traveled too. :)

Hiking in Helena

We had a great time hiking on Saturday, it was a wonderful 65 degrees and we just had to get out and enjoy the weather. It only took us 2 weeks but we made it hiking on Mount Helena. I gotta say Montana is better than we could have hoped for so far.

Halloween

After seeing all the comments posted I realized that this is more than just fun. People actually care about what is going on with our little family. So I need to quit being selfish and share!!!!!

After being "released" from work in Portland early, I got to spend some time with Andy and the daycare at the local pumpkin patch. It was so fun being able to spend some time with my little man. I cannot believe how fast he has grown up. He has a strong personality and a great sense of humor (you have to, to be a Williams :D)


We got Andy a little pumpkin and drew this face on it. If you didn't know better you would think it was his best friend. I wanna bath with it, I wanna sleep with it, I wanna eat with it. I didn't think you could "love" vegetables. HA HA

We got a pumpkin to carve too and we enjoy'd carving it as a family. We tried to get Andy to clean it out, but it was "ka ka poo'y" so Mom had to clean it. I had cut the top hole too small and I couldn't get my hand into it.
We got all dressed up to Trunk or Treat at the church. They loved it and Andy ran around and was so polite. He would walk up to someone and say Trick or Treat, then look what was put in his bucket, and then would say thank you without even prompting him, I was so proud of him.
I was a rough Trick or Treating outing, we were done by 6:30pm. The kids were done at 6:31pm. We let them sleep on the way home, but we still had to do baths and get them ready for bed. It was tough waking them up but they fell asleep way too early and it was only for a few minutes from the church....so then it was bath time!!!!

End result: We should have let them sleep and just put them to bed. I love my kids too much, I love night night time!!!!!

Love you all.

I have to share

Tami and I flew to Montana for Tami to see the area and give a thumbs up on moving here. I had to make sure that she was on board 150%.

Guys, we all know that "if Mommy's not happy, NO ONE IS HAPPY".

We left the kids for the first time together. Tami had a really hard time with that (she cried the whole drive to the airport). When we got here she gave the thumbs up and the journey began.

Her mom watched the kids for saturday, but the had to leave early Sunday. Our favorite neighbors and best friends in Portland stepped up for us and watched the kids for a the day on Conference Sunday. With the Hales, we KNEW that they were having more fun than they would with us and it lightened our hearts.

We got back and the kids were happy to have mom and dad home, but we're not nearly as much fun as Lindsey and Colby are.

They posed the kids for picture time and we got sent the most precious pricture and I had to share it.

We are so sad that we had to leave this wonderful family behind, having neighbors that are so wonderful is so hard to come by. I know that we have friends forever.

I SUCK!!!!!!

I would love to say that I'm on top of life, but I think that I got ran over by it.

For all that don't know, I accepted a new job in Helena Montana and we moved the family here. What an experience!!!!!

First things first...once the trailer was loaded up, it was WAY too heavy. Instead of leaving things in Portland, I decided that we would buy bigger better tires and give it a shot. We stopped half way (ha) at Tami's Mom's in Pasco Washington. Tami left at 9:00 am and had both kids and Jake, and the cat in her car. She called me at 2:00 pm that afternoon and I had just barely gotten on the road from the tire store. (geez!!!!).

The truck was overloaded and so I decided that better safe than sorry and I would only go 50 MPH through the gorge and even on the flat's it was just too squirly so only 55 MPH period.

It took forever to get there. I rolled in about 8:00 pm and Tami was fit to be tied.

The cat was giving the "in heat" meow the whole time in the car. Tami told me that if she had passed a humane society, we wouldn't have a cat.

So everyone got a good nights sleep and we hit the road on saturday morning at 8:00 am.

Mapquest said that the trip would take 6:32 minutes from there...Cake walk.

Well....that number is driving the speed limit or more (ha ha)....so after stopping for potty breaks and snack and lunch and snack and dinner and more potty....we finally got here at 9:00 PM saturday night.

The kids were beat, Tami was frusterated and exhausted, I was anxious and stressed out.

There is a huge pass right before town that is a winding road 6% grade, and it's raining, and dark, and the suggested truck speed is 25mph (if that explains anything). I was so scared not to burn up the brakes, I tried to keep it slow, but the trailer and the truck were so heavy that it would try to run on me. I thought I was a pretty good driver, but it was all i could do to get it down that mountain safely. It was the last obstacle to our new life and we tackled it head on...successfully....together as a family.

We called the Bishop of our new ward here in Helena and even though it was late when we got here, there were members waiting here to help us get uploaded. What took me 2 weeks to load, they unloaded in less than an hour. I am so grateful for that, it would have killed me to do it alone. It is just another sign to us that this is where we are supposed to be.

I started work on Monday and Tami started her new life as a stay at home Mommy. I feel so blessed to atleast give her the opportunity to be home with the kids. (it is tough, I will recognize that). She has been a trooper through this whole transition. I have flipped her life upside down and she keeps on coming back for more. (I love my wife so much).

Week one was fairly relaxed, alot of meetings to get ramped up on the new project. I think that we will be successful here as a family.

We took some pics of the House that we are staying in and will take some of the new house as it is being built.

We love you all.

Andy 2nd Birthday Party

The full circus rides again.

Janelle and Natalie packed up their kids and came for a visit for a few days. It was so wonderful that they took the time out of their busy schedules to make the trek to Oregon to see us.

We wish that we lived closer together so that the kids could know each other better and that we could talk more often.


It was so cute to see them all together again.



Quiet time was far and few between, but the little voices were great.



Movie time afford a time for a little casual conversion for the adults. (Jeremy took control and the Mom's watched Survivor.











When it was time to wrap up the visit there were kisses and hugs that everyone was willing to share.



All in all it was a great trip for the Williams Family and we enjoyed having everyone come for a visit. No one got hurt and everyone played well together , for the most part. (short of sand throwing).

Love you all.