The Williams Clan Adventures

Springtime Fun

2009-05-22T11:57:00.004-06:00

So the weather has been getting warmer which means more fun outside. Brynn recently got her tubes in and it seems like she's been more clumsy ever since. She just face planted off the step outside and is pretty scraped up. She's been sleeping better but still tends to want to wake up every night. School's almost out so Molli will be getting in to swimming lessons and gymnastics and hiking and lots of other things. We're still sometimes wondering when the terrible twos will be done! Here are some recent pics:

SuperBrynn

Molli out walking the Brynn

Molli and her birdhouse...she painted it and we assembled it together

Molli loves worms...and bugs...and ants...and pretty much anything she can dig up.

Molli and her best bud Sophie on the train in Heber City for their preschool field trip

Family Photos

2009-05-04T16:32:00.002-06:00

Not sure how much longer we'll have access to this but here is a link to our family pictures that Kaycee took of us while we were visiting Washington last month:

http://www.reallifephotographs.com/private/williams_family/

It's Been a While!

2009-04-26T14:52:00.011-06:00

It really has been so long since we update the blog that I don't know where to begin.
Molli turned 4 in January and is loving being a wise big sister to Brynn. She is as busy and inquisitive as ever!
Brynn just turned 1 in April and is learning to talk and walk.
Tony recently got to quit working for the newspaper and is loving sleeping through the night (when Brynn and Molli allow such a magical event!).
I am heading full speed toward the end of the teaching year. I believe there is 25 days or so left in our year! I am ready for summer and a little more time with the family.
We recently took a little vacation to Washington. Our schedule was bursting at the seams with birthday parties, baby showers, Easter, and spending time with family and friends. We had an amazing time while visiting and have all of our family and friends to thank for it! Hope to see you all soon.

A visit to Uncle Shae's.

Molli giving Uncle Shae a hug goodbye.

Deep in conversation...

Nothing like taking a little stroll with Grandpa.

I really do try to take decent photos of Molli, but she moves too fast!

Grandpa Ken and Brynn beneath Shae's Magnolia.

The sister walk.

Getting ready for the plane trip back to Utah.

The birthday girls: Eilis is now 2 and Brynn is now 1!

Eilis patiently waiting to eat her cupcake.

Eilis holds a birthday present...can't you just feel the joy emanating from her!!

Brynn and I open the blanket that Nana Jackie made...it is gorgeous...disregard my facial expression!

The Sounders Game

Tony, Keith, and Shane's huge mouth

Tony and Patrick at the Sounders game

Hmm...

A visit to Fox Island.

Enjoying the afternoon sun!

If you look closely you can see a little crab hanging on Matt's sweatshirt.

Molli holding some shells...she wouldn't hold the crabs after one clamped onto Krystal!

Molli and Jeff building a sand hill.

Matt and Brynn checking out the seaweed.

Molli working away...

The birthday girl, April 8th. Turning one and learning to walk!!

What is this birthday cake stuff all about?

The Zoo & a New BBQ!

2008-09-26T11:24:00.009-06:00

Hey again everyone. We actually did something last weekend so we thought we'd post some pictures. We took the girls & cousins Samantha and Sofia to the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City. It was very fun but tiring! We love having Molli hang out with Samantha and Sofia because they actually listen to instructions so Molli pretty much has to follow suit.

Also, there's a new organic market in town and we've been anxiously awaiting it's opening since we first saw the sign. During the first week of its opening they had a bunch of promotion type activities and one of them was a drawing to win various items. One of them happened to be a new Weber BBQ which, of course we won! It's very nice and big and pretty.

Talk to ya'll soon!

A shiny new grill (we don't really have Molli walk around with a helmet on, although sometimes I think we should!)

She's looks very thoughtful, eh?

From the top, Samantha, Sofia, & Molli

Checkin out the black bears

Gotta start her early!!!

2008-09-19T21:06:00.021-06:00

We haven't been able to find our "good" camera since we've been back from Washington but we've taken a few pictures in the past month that we needed to get up. Molli has started soccer with Provo Parks and Rec (can you believe they're starting them at 3 now?). Tony loves it most but Molli loves it too. We may have gone a little overboard getting her outfitted for the season. Her two friends Rylee and Wyatt are also there so that helps, although I think Molli and Rylee would rather hang out than listen to any of the coaches. She's done well at times though when she focuses on playing the game.

We've been on a few hikes but it's generally too hot to do anything outdoors for an extended amount of time. It's definitely been cooling down though so we'll start getting out there again. Brynn is still loving to eat and is very happy. She's getting close to sitting up and has accidentally rolled over a few times now. She's so cute...we'll get some more pictures soon. These seem to be mostly Molli.

A few soccer pictures:

Can you tell who's in charge here? This is actually during one of their "games". They also pretended to be kitties during another game. They're the only two girls on the team.

Wyatt, Molli & Rylee.

Now that's good form...I don't know if she can see though

Team photo...Molli was pumped to hold the ball, even though you can't tell by looking at her!

Taking a break..."soccer makes me so tired, daddy!"

A couple other pictures:

Molli loves her little "sisto" so much!

On a hike near Vivian Park up the Provo Canyon

Brynn Violet at 5 months. We are still unsure of her hair coloring. I think we are leaning towards blonde at the moment...it is all a waiting game.

A couple of naked cuties

Hope you are all doing well. We miss you and hope to see you all soon!

The Trip to WA

2008-07-29T12:32:00.010-06:00

Well the trip to Washington was a great time. It went by very fast though since we didn't have even one day to just hang out and relax. Our itinerary was full, driving somewhere each day to visit family or friends. I don't think we would've changed anything if we could though. It was great to see everyone and enjoy the more mild temperatures than the daily upper 90's we've been experiencing here in Utah. Our main worry about the trip was the drive. We decided to drive at night so that hopefully the girls would sleep and I (Tony) would just power through the sleepiness...which they did and I did. We were also lucky enough to borrow my friend Jessica's dvd player for Molli so we could all have some Dora along the way. Vamanos! We left Utah around 6:00 pm on July 3rd and got to the home base of Elma around 11:00 am the next morning stopping only for dinner and gas. This allowed us to hit 4th of July celebrations at Auntie Kathy's house which, as always, was filled with good food and family. Molli was very excited to see her cousins, especially "baby Eilis" who she has decided needs constant hands-on supervision.

We had a great time the following Friday. Molli & I dropped off Kyla & Brynn at Pat/Marie's house in Olympia. We then met my bro Jerry and his family at my ma's house in E-town (we were, as usual, late). We went and climbed Mt Peak (a steep hike my dad used to frequent) that ended up with Molli on my shoulders probably 75% of the time. Here's a shot from the top:

Then we had lunch at Deep Lake. Driving those back roads really brought me back to growing up in the Claw. Wrapping the Reliant around a telephone pole, delivering pizzas, soccer hangouts, finding parties, etc. Good times. We then went back to Pat's house in Olympia, had some apps and beers and was surprised by my sis Chris (lives in AZ). Our mom met us and then we went to a great restaraunt (Waterstreet Cafe) near the state capital. What a great day.

The main reason for the trip was my cousin Erin's wedding on July 12th. It was a rare occasion in that all of the 8 cousins were able to attend (Chris, Joey, Jerry, Brian, Patrick, Erin, Shawn, & Tony)...the first time since my dad's funeral. Needless to say, there were plenty of "cousins pictures" taken...here's one from brunch the following day:

This is a requirement at any gathering of more than one cousin at a family function. I remember one holiday where it was just Erin, Shawn, and me and we still had to do the picture. The wedding was at a picturesque park in Seattle, overlooking Puget Sound with Mt Baker in the distance. It was a great venue and wedding. Here's one picture of Kyla, Brynn, the top of Molli's head and me.

We shaved about 2 hours off of the drive on our return trip to Utah. It was nice getting back to a little normalcy...it's hard living out of your car with two hairy dogs and two little girls! It's been suggested that we're ready for a minivan. If it does come to that, it'll be Kyla's ride for sure. We'll get some more pictures added once we find our camera. Until next time!

18 days until Washington!

2008-06-15T09:07:00.008-06:00

We are so excited to be taking a road trip "home" in less than a month. We are hoping to be home by the 4th, so we can celebrate with the family! Brynn is a little over two months and has truly transitioned into being a part of the family! She started cooing and smiling around one month and hasn't stopped. I think we may have another very verbal child...I can only imagine how loud our home will be during their teenage years!

Molli and Brynn

Brynn 2 1/2 months

Molli (3 1/2) and Sophia (4) swimming

Brynn 2 months old. 12 lbs. 9 oz. and 23 1/4"

Girls wearing matching dresses...oh won't they hate that in the future! But it is so cute now and Molli loves it!

Brynn and Molli hanging out on the couch.

Close up...does her hair look a little red?!

May update

2008-05-24T13:34:00.003-06:00

Brynn is nearing her 2 month mark! Time continues to fly by most days...Except on the days when Molli becomes a 3 year old temper tantrum queen. When she's in the mood she can really throw a long and involved tantrum!! It is a little scary.
Brynn continues to sleep for long stints during the night, which helps when dealing with a tempermental toddler.
Molli still "lubs" her little sister with all her heart. In fact when she got home from Little Gym today she told Brynn "I missed you, Brynn. Sorry I had to go to Little Gym." How adorable!
We are excited to spend a week or so in Washington around the 4th of July. We hope to see as many friends and family members as possible!

A good...no make that a GREAT night of rest

2008-05-15T13:04:00.003-06:00

Brynn slept fom 9:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. last night!! What a surprise. I of course woke around 4:45 to see if she was ok, and then slept lightly with much time in awake anticipation of her waking! Ah motherhood.

Almost a month!

2008-05-02T16:56:00.008-06:00

The month (well close to a month) has flown by! Brynn changes her looks and attitude everyday. She is a wonderful addition to our family. Molli continues to adore her, as do we. My mom is still here helping us through this first month. She will leave next week. My dad has already left, but will return to pick up my mom next week. Molli has thoroughly enjoyed having another adult to dote on her! And I have been more than thankful to have my mom's help and cooking skills at the house! Here are a ton of pictures:

Brynn 5/02/08...almost a month!

Grandpa Ken, Grandma Garnet and Molli at the Thanksgiving Point Tulip Festival

Craziness that is the Williams' Household!

Molli got a new sand box and she LOVES it!

Swinging at the park. Molli had Grandma take quite a few pictures of her...as she is the star of the show!

Grandma and Molli blowing bubbles.

Sacked out!

Brynn's first bath in the infant bath tub.

Grandma Garnet and Brynn

Grandpa Ken and Brynn

Molli at the Tulip Festival

Brynn right after her first bath at home...she was NOT impressed!

Sleeping Beauty

Slippered Sisters

Molli is a big sister!

2008-04-10T17:47:00.010-06:00

We couldn't be happier and Molli is so pleased to have her little sister Brynn Violet here at last. She was quite sure that the baby in Mommy's tummy was a little sister and she was right. In fact she was so sure that when we would remind her that the baby could possibly be a boy she would get a little teary eyed. Sorry to all the Williams family members wishing that perhaps one of the Williams boys would produce a boy! It is just not in the cards. When Pat and Marie decide to complete their family with another baby, we will all need to cross our fingers and chant "Y chromosome, Y chromosome, Y chromosome". Brynn was born on April 8th (9 days earlier than expected!) at 3:30 p.m. She was 19 inches long and weighed 7 pounds 15 ounces. Her hair is dark and her eyes are murky grey/blue. Same coloring as her big sister. She seems so much smaller than Molli ever was! For those that don't remember Molli was 20 1/2 inches and weighed 9 pounds 4 ounces! Needless to say Brynn came into the world much quicker. Two pushes and she was out! Really, just two. We couldn't believe it. She seems to have a calm demeanor and prefers nursing and sleeping to anything else. She, like Molli as a newborn, is quite hungry and is already needing to be supplemented with formula! Please pray that nursing and sleep will go smoothly with this little one. The difficulties we endured last time, I do not wish to repeat. Life is good and we are home as one big happy family. We will have to see how the first night at home goes. So far today, Brynn has been eating and sleeping the day away. Molli has stated "I don't want her to sleep so much." I agree...what will tonight bring when she has done all her sleeping during the day?! Tony is happy to let her sleep, as this gives him the excuse to sit on the couch with her and watch sports.

**UPDATE: The first night home went quite nicely. She was asleep by around 10:30 and slept until 3:00. She ate, rocked and fell asleep. She then slept until about 7:30 or 8:00! She has been on that schedule ever since. Molli is adjusting well to Brynn. She loves her so much and is quite the little helper. She gets diapers, throws away diapers, assures Brynn she is okay, and helps to burp her! We are so happy that the adjustment has gone so well thus far. She is throwing a few more tantrums and being a little more stubborn around the edges. Molli is fairly stubborn, so this is nothing new to us. Grandma and Grandpa will be here soon to ooh and ah over the baby and spend LOTS of quality time with Molli. Hopefully that will help in assuring Molli that she is just as important to our family as ever (or in her thoughts, she is still the center of the Williams/Kuronen universe)!

Proud mama and Brynn, minutes after birth

Ace just wants someone to throw his frisbee

R&R with his two favorite little ones

Molli and Brynn, just after bath time.

Brynn Violet, April 8th, 2008
7 lbs. 14.8 oz., 19 inches

Just after her first bath in the nursery

Tony, Molli and Brynn

Proud big sister!

Cousin Samantha with Molli supervising

A Great Pregnancy Story

2008-04-03T12:28:00.003-06:00

I have to tell this story...sorry Kyla. The people must hear this one. So for those of you who don't know, Kyla drives a 1999 Volkswagon Passat which has given us quite a few problems these past couple of years. It's a nice car, but it just seems something is always going wrong with it. Kyla called me a while back to report a new problem. "The gas gauge is backwards!" she told me. She said when she turned the car off, it would show the gas was full, rather than the usual needle pointing to empty. "Oh great", I thought. How much is this gonna cost to fix? So later that day, we went to Costco to get gas to fill it up and make sure she would make it through the week. When I started it after filling up, the needle pointed all the way to the right (like it's supposed to). Kyla said, "see, I told you. Look, it's pointing to empty!" To which I had to reply, "which side do you think is empty?" After a couple of seconds of silence, Kyla finally admitted she was crazy. Gotta love pregnancy!

The Pacifier Fairy

2008-04-02T12:34:00.005-06:00

We finally were able to rid Molli of the evil pacifier (Molli calls it her pass). Yes, she's only three but we figured if we wanted her to have at least one year of junior high/high school without braces, it was about time. We also wanted to make sure it was outta here by the time the new baby came around. Kyla got rid of all but one of them which we allowed Molli to use at night. Kyla 'sent' the extras off to the Pacifier Fairy about a month back (the one in Fairy Land) and Molli got a pack of gum and a very pretty letter sent back, thanking her for her contribution. We had been talking for quite a while about getting rid of this last one (almost a year, actually) and last Friday we finally went to Build-A-Bear and she bravely put her last one inside, along with the bear's heart. The first couple of nights have been a little rough (add a cold to the mix) but she knows her teeth are going to be happier. She's always got her bear (with the very clever name of Pink...guess what color? She also has Orange) mostly, I think because of what's inside. Molli regularly reports that she still "lubs her pass".

Finally some Spring

2008-03-20T09:05:00.011-06:00

Hello all! We're finally getting some warmer weather and haven't seen any snow for at least 3 days so that's been nice. There's only about a month left in Kyla's pregnancy so we're getting very anxious for baby #2 to show up. She's been working quite a bit extra so that everything will be ready in her class while she's out for the remainder of the school year. Tony has agreed to help brother Jerry coach Sam and Sofia's soccer team starting this week. He's very excited. Molli is getting smarter every day it seems. We were reading an ABC book with her the other day and we were shocked to find that she's able to identify about 80% of the letters in the alphabet just by looking at them! Preschool is a great thing! We had a few holidays (Valentines Day and St Patrick's Day) so we wanted to get some new pictures on here. When we told Molli it was St. Patrick's Day, Molli said "Let's go see him!" (if you didn't know, Molli has an Uncle Patrick) We hope everyone is doing well! Our next post will probably involve new baby pictures so keep an eye out!

Happy Valentimes Day!

Flower Child

Getting ready for Spring!

St. Patrick's Day

Boy or Girl?

Feeding the ducks

Teaparty Molli

Holiday craziness finally over!

2008-02-11T09:03:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a couple of months since we've updated this. We finally are getting settled back in after our busy holiday season.
In early December, we got to go to Las Vegas for Tony's company Christmas party. Molli stayed at her cousins' house while we got to be out on the town for once (well, as much as we could be while in Vegas with a pregnant lady!). It was so much fun.
We were lucky enough to have Kyla's family come out for Christmas. It was really great having them here. It was like we were back home in Washington, except far more snow!
Just after the new year, we made our way back to Washington for a week for Matt Jewett's wedding. It was a great trip. Besides the wedding we got to see quite a bit of family, trying to fit as much into the week as possible. Kyla and Molli flew back and forth, while Tony braved the passes with the dogs. We loved being back in the Evergreen State.
Molli also turned 3 and we had a party at Chuck E Cheese's. After quite a bit of proclaiming she's not afraid of Chuck E anymore (he's a guy in a Chuck E Cheese costume), we found that not to be the case. She pretty much cried at the mention of his name when we were there. Believe it or not she began preschool as well. She loves going to school with her friends Rylee and Wyatt (children of Tony's co-workers).
We're planning on getting back out to Washington in July for another wedding...this time with a new little family member! We hope you're all doing well and hope to hear from you soon! Don't forget, if you ever want to go skiing (or just hang out with us), there's a place in Utah for you to stay!

The first of many snow storms to hit us

Making the first snowman of the year

Molli making a gingerbread house with Gramma and Grampa

Christmas morning

Molli on a Christmas high

Molli's first day of preschool with her Dora packpack

Molli hard at work at preschool with her friends

Molli's 3rd bday party with Rylee looking on and cousin Samantha watching

Molli did her own hair

Kyla and Tony at Matt's rehearsal dinner

7 and a half months and still standing!

2007-11-25T19:58:00.000-07:00

Just a monthly update. All is well. Another month has somehow flown by in the blink of an eye! I can't believe the holiday season is truly upon us. Hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving. One bit of exciting news on the homefront: Molli is nearly potty trained! We began work on it earlier this week and she seems to be grasping it for the most part!!! She is so cute sitting on the potty waiting to tinkle! You can just see her thinking the pee out. As she starts to pee she says with a huge grin "Here is comes!" The pregnancy is going well. Somehow this one seems to be moving along quite a bit faster than the last pregnancy! I have started to feel the baby on a daily basis. The baby lets me know if it does not like the position I am in...or if I need to use the restroom!

Posing with the bear.

Molli helps Daddy move the leaves.

Molli and her gardening "glubs".

Molli on a slide at the park.

Getting ready to slide.

Zooming on Uncle Shae's scooter.

5 months

Who's the little duck?!

Molli at a park in Orem hugging a bear.

Duce had to be in the picture, he is a little tired of this whole Molli business!

Molli's first experience making cookies with Mom.

Halloween and House

2007-10-31T15:58:00.000-06:00

There is some interest to see pictures of the house. I also have some new pictures of Molli in costume for Halloween. She is a caterpillar!

The house in Orem Utah. Built in 1888! Remodeled in 1986.

Molli's first "real" Halloween...well, the first one she has shown interest in.

Trick-or-treating at the Little Gym's Halloween Party! I think she was the only girl not dressed as some kind of princess!!

2007-10-29T20:30:00.000-06:00

We figured it was about time to start some communication with the outside world, as we have been holed up in Orem for the last 3 months with little to no connection with the real world. We hope family and friends will find this site helpful when trying to keep up with the happenings of our growing family. Please be aware the main focus of this blog is to keep you all updated on our busy body of a daughter and the growing girth of Kyla's belly. Tony and the dogs will have guest appearances now and again...so don't feel as though they are not an important part of our family. They are an integral piece of the crazy Utah experience! With best intentions we plan to keep the site updated at least once a month... Hope to see you all VERY soon!

Kyla at 4 months along.
Molli grooms Ace.

Molli and Tony play a little soccer in the front yard. Molli walking Ace in the hot Utah sun.