Yee Haw Dinosaur!!

After taking Michael to school the other day, we went into the city to get a part to fix our washing machine. Apparently, if you keep puting too much clothes in at one time it does not like that. $20 fixed. We had some time to kill between geeting the part and getting my TB screening read for the new job so we took Hadassah and Forrester to a park in the Oregon District for some early afternoon playtime. Springtime is great!!

Recently

Some things have happened in my life that have given me cause to think. Really think about a lot of things. I have been spending a great deal of energy contemplating my testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I have known from an early age that Jesus Christ is in deed, the Son of the Living God. I have always felt that this is true. I have had these feelings reaffirmed to me countless times throughout my short life. I wanted to know at the age of fifteen that the church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-Day Saints was His restored Gospel on the face of the Earth and that it was in fact t THE only church authorized to bear his name. I found myself in upstate NEW York in a grove of trees praying to know these things. When a spirit came over me testifying of truth. i received knowledge that day of the truthfulness of the Gospel, the source of the Book of Mormon, and the divine nature of the calling of Joseph Smith as the Prophet, Seer and Revelator of this, the last dispensation of the fullness of times. I was given a knowledge that man CANNOT give nor take away.
I have had my faith tried since then and I have never lost this testimony.
I am grateful for this abiding knowledge. I am grateful for the love of a Holy Father in Heaven that loves me because he knows me as an individual. I am grateful to be a member of the kingdom of God. I am thankful to have (a limited) knowledge of the Atonement. I am grateful for a testimony of the restoration and all of the blessings that are made possible to me by it. The sealing covenant, the priesthood, the understanding of the nature of God, the knowledge of repentance and the redemption of mankind through and infinite atonement.
I am so glad that My wife is my companion. I am ever grateful for our children and I strive each day to be worthy of an eternal relationship with each of them. I am grateful that my wife was brought up in a home that feared the Lord and gave her a legacy of faith. I am grateful to be a part of that legacy. I am thankful for what this legacy can mean for our children. So when they have cause to reflect, they may know where they can look for a redemption of their sins and everlasting life.
I am thankful for parents that love the Lord. I am grateful for the example that my mother has given me, She has taught me by example that "Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can."
I keep this record of sorts so that Our children can look back on the ins and outs of our lives together and be supported and reminded of the things that we went through. and be able to recognize that all things will be for their good if they keep their eye single to His glory.

God be thanked for the matchless gift of His Son.

Boys night out

Amy had bunko last night so I took one of the kids out while the others went to grandmas for the evening. Last night was Michael's turn and boy did we have fun!
There comes a time in every young man's life when he gets to do something monumental, something that will undoubtedly have a lasting impact on him. Last evening was one of those nights for my son. We went to Waffle House.
Michael had Brinner (Breakfast for Dinner) I had the usual, double 1/4 lb. Cheeseburger plate. This time I sprung for an extra hash brown which I had the cook make extra crisp and put it on top of the sandwich. he even through in an extra piece of cheese to glue it down with.See pics below.
We then went to see a Kung-fu flick about a Panda. Rockin! excellent choice for a night out with the fellas. After the movie we went over to Fuddruckers for an Oreo shake. The best for shakes.
Enjoy the pics!

Grandparent stuff

We had a visit from My grandfather the other week. He was up from Houston for his brother's Anniversary. the kids love it when he visits. It was a good time.

Grandma and Grandpa Tolman sent some things to the kids the other day from their recent trip to California. (The state Michael wants to visit the most) They enjoyed every thing they got especially the shirts. A side note; I am all about free clothes for the kids. Amy still thinks the chocolate is for her even though we all know it isn't.

Family Home evening delayed

So, in honor of Pioneer Day (july 24th is the day that Brigham Young arrived in the great salt lake valley with the rest of the Mormons fleeing from Illinois) Amy got some supplies to make an edible craft for our Family Home evening this week. For one reason and another we just got to do it this evening.
Here is the plan:

Here are our versions:




Circlin' the wagons.

It was really fun and a good time to explain the to the kids on how we can protect and depend on each other as a family.

Visit from Grandma & Grandpa

Why do grandmas always get top billing? I mean it is always "grandma and Grandpa" never Grandpa and Grandma" What's up with that?

I'm not complaining; Just an observation.

Anywho...

So Amy's folks came up for a visit to see the baby, party with our neice (she turned 1) and to participate in Forrester's Blessing on Sunday. We did a lot of fun things, some of which are depicted here:

The night of the 4th we went to the park before watching fireworks from our porch.

Grandma pushed Hadassah on the swings. Amy and Tom watched.

The next day we went to Boonshoft Museum of Discovery

Again, grandma was found playing with Hadassah:

Amy and Tom? More father/Daughter bonding.

Just Kidding! Tom jumped in and played with the toys too.

Mikey really enjoyed excavating with his Granddad.

3of the 4 with our nephew in the lobby of Boonshoft.

Forrester slept through most of the fun so we had a little fun of our own:

Well folks! that's about it. We sure did love having Tom and Becky over. The kids loved it and it is always a treat to see them interacting with the kids.

Forrester and the gang. Week #1

Here are a few pictures to sum up this weeks activities.

Seeing ourselves on the web

So back on memorial day weekend, we went to the local city park to take part in some fireworks, crowds and funtimes. While I was there I had Hadassah on my shoulders when I noticed this dude taking our picture. I said to Amy "I think that was Dave from that one blog I read." Sure enough it was so here is the pic with a link to Drexel Dave's "Photos from the streets of Dayton, Ohio USA" BLOG.

Introducing... the newest joy in our lives.

We went in last night and the little guy did not want to make his appearance until 11:13 this morning. In true Williams fashion, he came very quickly after the doctor stole his water. He weighs 8lbs, 2.4 oz...for now. Amy was as always, a trooper through the whole thing. I am very blessed to be married to such a strong willed woman. She is wonderful, as is he. It never ceases to amaze me, the beauty that is life. I am so full of joy to have him as part of our eternal family.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Forrester Tolman Williams:

All cleaned up and sleeping tight.

EAGER TO MEET THE NEW BROTHER

Our trip to St. Louis in 0:2:08

516 photos in two days. This is every one of them. Some Jaisens Some mine.Here they are in no particular order:

Meet me in St. Louis...

Well, that's what the Batchelders were supposed to do but hey! we had fun w/o them. I will post pics soon. A lot of them to go through.

Pictures will include:
Fun times at the Gateway Arch, Fitz's Restaurant, the Temple, the hotel, The St louis ZOO and mucho Williams bambinos.
Take care!

3 yo and growing

Three years ago we were joined by our darling little Hadassah. She came into our lives a little sooner than we were expecting. she must have been able to tell from in there how much fun she was missing out on. I am ever grateful for her decision to come join us here on this earth. She has brought our family one more step toward completion and it has been great ever since.
I posted this pic earlier this week but I decided to put it up again since it is her day and she is a cutie.

"And he brought up Hadassah..............and the maid was fair and beautiful..."
Esth. 2:7

Sunday Picture update

So here is some catchup.
I took the kids to a city sponsored easter egg hunt while Amy was at a Relief Society activity. It wasn't really an easter egg hunt but rather a bunch of candyt scattered all over the soccer fields. I found myself in the strange perdictament of telling the kids to go out and pick up candy off of the ground and eat it. I figured it was cool though cause, 1. the city was actually saving my tax dollars by buying candy and not eggs I was going to throw away and B. There weren't a ton of plastic eggs going into our local (very local) landfill.
Plus, it was a great way to save $ by not having to buy candy. Our kids had to submit to their leftist parents "redistributing the wealth" and then of course passing it off as some great thing their parents did for them. We colored eggs after the hunt which we hid in the backyard with some plastic egg filled with pennies found all over our house after one of the juniors gets in to their piggy bank and makes a mess. The only one really making out here is Jaisen since she doesn't do that anymore. We took a pic of Hadassah on the can following a trip to BK which remined us of a similar pic we had of her sister back in 2002. As for the GLADWARE, well, that is what you get when you pack applesauce to take to lunch and leave it in a van for a unknown period of time. Luckily, we found it before it found us. Thats about it for this pics below. PEACE

Here they are! The 1st pics of our last addition