80 Years Young

I can't believe my Maumau, Sydney Davis Barnett is 80 years old! She turned 80 on September 5th, Ginger's wedding day. My Aunt Donna put together a birthday party for her in Payson to celebrate the wonderful life my maumau has lived thus far. It was such a good day, seeing all of the cousins that we grew up and ran around with as kids. Almost everybody was able to make it and it was a good looking crowd. It's amazing to me when you look at the heritage that started with my Maumau and Papa just the two of them getting married, and now to look at the family that has developed. My papa died when I was about 4 years old. I think my maumau has been without him for almost 20 years now. Crazy, anyway, I wanted to take a minute and say what a wonderful, marvelous woman Sydney Barnett is. She has been a big part of my childhood, when I would go over almost every day to play at her house, and help with her flower garden, or make cookies. She was not born a member of the church and she married Henry Keith Barnett who was not a member, and they joined the church after they got married. Because of those two wonderful people, my mom became a member and made her one of the best woman I know. My maumau made all of her grand daughters wedding cakes, made many many dresses for us, and still whenever I go to Heber, she is still making cookies to bring over to my moms' house. She loves, loves to cook and sew, and I love hearing her stories of when she was growing up and the love she has for papa. I love her and I hope she knows what a special woman she is to all of her family! Here are some pictures of the day.

Happy Birthday!

Ginger's Big Day

On Saturday September 5th Ginger got married! It was such a beautiful day, although it rained when they came out the temple, thankfully it stopped so they could get some good pictures. My sister Kelli and I went up on Thursday morning so we could help my mom prepare. It was too funny, when we got to my mom's house, she had a list waiting for us (because she was at work); it reminded me of when we were little, and she assigned us a list of chorse. Anyway, Friday we set up for the reception. It was a long day working 9 hours to put the cultral hall together, but it turned out absolutly beautiful. Probably the best reception Heber has ever seen. :) We had some good help from generous people to help it go smoothly. My brother Ben is the best brother ever, he is such a good guy. He helped all day long climbing up and down the ladders. Whats so funny, is it only took 45 minutes to take down 9 hours worth of work. Go figure huh? Here's a little glimpes of what it looked like. It was beautiful. Didn't even feel like you were in the cultral hall.
Anyway, Ginger looked so beautiful as she always does, and her and Steve are so happy. I am so jealous of her, I was telling Shawn I want to get married again, and experience everything that a newly married couple goes through again. When everything is so new, those are memories to cherish. It would be fun to do it all over again.

Keely was beyond tired by the time the weekend was over. She hadn't had a nap for 3 days and she went to bed late every night. Her eyes were literally bloodshot. I felt so bad for her. But she had such a ball playing with her cousins. Her and Lydia were so cute in their dresses for the reception. My sister Kelli, Kim, my mom and I made 12 of these dresses, and they all looked so cute.

.Randomness.

I thought I would post some random pictures and things we have been up to lately. First off I wanted to post this picture of Keely, because I meant to post it a while ago. This picture represents Shawn when he was Mr. Mom. He got so good at doing Keely's hair, he even claims he can do it better than I can (which he is probably right). He really was such a big help when he was home all day when he lost his job. He took Keely swimming every day, cleaned the house, and kept us entertained. We sure do miss him being home all the time - Keely especially misses her daddy but we are more grateful and happy that he has a job. This picuture is one day when he did her hair. Pretty good huh?

Next, I learned to can peaches and I am pretty proud of myself. My sister Kelli told me the steps and did it myself. They are so pretty and they taste so wonderful. There is nothing like homeade canned peaches. I can't wait to make peach cobbler (even if Shawn doesn't like it - stinker!). Does anyone want to join me since I will be eating a whole pan myself?

On Saturday the 29th of August, Shawn took Keely with him to the lake with his dad. She loves to go and jump off the boat and do it over and over again. I haven't ever gone with her, but Shawn took the video camera for me so I could see her, and she is so funny. Someday we will own a boat and go to the lake as a family whenever we want and be lake bums. On Sunday, I came down with something. I had a fever all day - I can't remember the last time I had a fever, and how miserable they make you feel. Anyway Keely was getting pretty sick of me being sick, so she and Lydia spent a little time with me in bed..... I couldn't resist not taking a picture.

Keely loves to ready books to Lydia and Lydia loves it. She watches Keely all day long. She can't wait till she can play and move around with Keely. I am sure it won't be long. Lydia is already rolling over and she just wants to go all the time. Anyway, that's the end of my randomness.. Oh wait! I signed up for a lifetime fitness class at MCC, and I am way super excited to crack down and get my body back into shape!! I have never ever been so out of shape in my life, and felt so fat. I miss high school, when I would just go to practice after school everyday, whether it be volleyball, basketball, track, or just lifting weight. And that's just what life was about at the time. Man life was easy.

Ginger's getting Hitched!

This post is a little late, but I thought I would post about Ginger getting married. They have been engaged for a while, and their date is next week September 5th, holy cow, I can't believe it is already here. She got her endownments done last weekend, which was so neat. I love going to the temple when your brothers and sisters and parents are there at the same time. It just makes it so much more special.

Anyway, Ginger is marrying a great guy named Steve Bell. We are so excited for them. I love weddings, I can't wait till next week, when I can chow down on wedding cake and interact with my family. Here's a picture of the cute couple. We are so happy for you Ginger! :)

A Name and a Blessing

This post is a little late, but oh well. So much has been going on, that I really haven't had time to post. We blessed our Lydia Gene on August 2nd, and it was such a beautiful day. I really felt the spirit, and feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family. It was so good to see everyone that came to share our joy with us. My dad always bears his testimony at his grandchildren's blessings. I look forward to those days, because I love to hear my dad's firm nonwavering testimony. We did lunch at Shawn's parents house again like we did with Keely's because our house is too small. Thanks again Jennifer for letting us do it at your house. It was wonderful.

I made Lydia's dress, and I have to say, I have more practice to do. I made a whole dress the dress before this one and it didn't work at all. So I had to get more fabric and start all over again. It took me forever to get the final result. I was happy with it, but there are still some things that I can learn and get better, which I intend to.

Here are some pictures of Lydia's day....

Four generation picture with Shawn's grandparents.

Lydia was done taking pictures.
My parents. I love my Dad's smile in this picture.

.Our Many Blessings.

When I look back on my life, all I can see is how much the Lord has blessed me and my family. I have been blessed with goodly parents, they are the most honest, wonderful people I know. All throughout my life I have been blessed. I think about people in these third world contries and pause to think "why has the Lord blessed me and continues to bless me when all these people suffer?"
Well the reason I bring this up, is because the Lord continues to bless me with abundance. About three weeks ago Shawn lost his job with Allstate. His boss couldn't afford him anymore. Shawn was the last salesman to go at that agency. It was kind of a suprise, and a bit of a trial, but we tried to stay optimistic, we knew that they Lord would help Shawn get a job.
We have some offers on some houses and are already approved for a loan, so you can imagine our heartache when we realized that a house wouldn't be coming soon (becuase you can't get approved for a loan without a job :) ) Well last Tuesday, Shawn put in an application for an Allstate in Scottsdale, and he got the job that same day!! I will be able to quit my job here soon becuase of his new job. I am so excited! Losing Shawn's job was definatly a blessing in disguise. I have to admit, I was getting discouraged there for a while, and I am sure Shawn was too. I love Shawn and am thankful that is he so willing to go to work to support our family, so I can stay home with the girls.
And now things are moving forward with a couple short sales that we put offers in. So hopefully things will start happening with a house soon. I am so thankful for my Heavenly Father for being mindful of us and in our time of need. Again, I look at all the people who have lost their jobs, and wonder why it was so easy for Shawn to get a job. I guess the best thing we can do is be mindful of others, and find ways to give service.

Williams Family Reunion 2009

My family always goes camping at the end of July up by Heber. Shawn and I always look forward to it. We always have such a good time, and Keely loves to play non stop with her cousins. The weather is always nice, and it is just fun to camp period. We got a kids sleeping bag for Keely and she loved it. She slept on the ground with us in her own bag, it was so cute. I wish I got a picture of her, but I didn't think about it. I wasn't pregnant this year, but I did have a newborn (I have been pregnant twice out of the 4 times we have gone. Having a newborn was a little bit hard, but not too bad. Lydia did really well. This is what she did pretty much the whole time....

My mom reading books to Keely and Cossette.My mom brought 3 swings for the kids to play on and Keely loved it. It really was a great idea.We camped near Legacy Lodge, and we were able to go swim in the pond they have there. I have always wanted to do the rope swing that Shawn is doing in this picture, and I finally got to do it. It wasn't all that great. Kind of a let down, but now I can say I did it. After we went swimming. We didn't have any swimsuits so I went in that red shirt and a pair of kaki shorts (ya I was styling) and Keely had a shirt and panties on. It was fun. Keely with her life jacket.Sitting with Addie out in the woods.

Till next year!