IT'S A SMALL WORLD AND IN THE CHURCH IT IS EVEN SMALLER!

Just a couple months after we moved to Canada my dear friend Angi moved

to California.  She had mentioned that I should look out for an Elder Draper

from California as he is in my mission and Angi and his Mom have become 
friends. As fate would have it I had been asked to help serve a lunch the
very next week to missionaries for a Mission Conference.  I called Angi
and told her I would look for Elder Draper. Elder Draper's Mom Teri
called me and was so excited that I would see her son today! 
It is funny how thrilled we are as Mothers that someone we may not
even know gets to see and talk to our missionaries! If you have ever
had a missionary out.. you know exactly what I mean! I was so happy
to track down Elder Draper and his Zone.  I think they all enjoyed the
 attention as well! Elder Draper is the one in the middle.



The Zone



Now this was a BONUS for ME!!  While I was in the kitchen preparing the meal

a sister asked which General Authority was here.  Someone answered her...

President Zivic of the 70's.  I gasped!!  They said what?  I said he was my 

oldest son Tyler's Mission  President in Spain!! After he had eaten I went up

and asked if they remembered Tyler.  They both jumped out of their chairs

and gave me the biggest hugs...It was a tender and teary moment for me as

I know how much Tyler loves them and what a wonderful influence for good

they have had on his life.  They were thrilled to talk and said some very sweet

things about my boy.  I felt a bit like a groupie and guilty for taking the time away

from the missionaries but for some reason I felt like the Lord sent me a

blessing today. :) The only reason I took my camera was to take a picture of Elder

Draper.  Good thing I had it with me!



After lunch was over the whole group sang Army of Helaman.  At the end they

sang and thank you for the food....It was moving and darling all at the same time. 

I couldn't help but think about my Blake in South Africa serving in much the same

way these boys are.  I am so thankful for the members there that are good to him. 

It was a wonderful day!

Tyler's White Coat Ceremony 8/11/2010

Doctor S. Tyler Williams

On August 11, 2010 Tyler officially donned his "White Jacket" and recited the Oath of Hippocrates for the very first time.  He is now in full swing of his FIRST year of Medical School at the University of Texas at Houston.  Tyler is one of those kids that said he was going to be a doctor from a very young age and here he is!  We couldn't be prouder of him.  It still hurts me when I think about them moving to Texas  at the same time we left there to move to Canada. How did that happen?!

Tyler and Kaylee at the White Coat Ceremony.  Interesting fact:  Did you know that the longer a Doctor's white coat is the more education and distinguished he is?  Who knew???

Tyler Graduates from BYU 4-23-2010

We were all looking forward to this exciting weekend. Not only was Tyler graduating from BYU but we were finally ALL going to be together! Steve flew from Canada and we flew from Texas to meet up with the kids in Provo. It was a very busy weekend but so much fun! Here Tyler is in front of the Marriott Center at BYU. The kids waiting for graduation to start. Tyler graduated from the Business School. I am pretty sure it was one of the largest graduation on campus that day. With the last name of Williams we were there to the bitter end and it was great!!

Tyler, Kayle and us outside after graduation.

The family...minus Joel (working) and Dad (taking the picture.)

Walking across the stage.

That's my boy!!

We were looking all over for Tyler as the hundreds of people walked in. ...trying to figure out where he was. It was funny when I finally looked right in front of us and there he was...only about 8 rows down from us! How lucky was that?!

It was a wonderful graduation. Bill Marriott was one of the speakers. The story he told of his family and himself was so inspiring. He is such a successful man but gives so much in return. It was an emotional experience for me when the Dean of the collage was asking for the graduates to stand as things applied to them. Some of the things he asked was...how many speak 2, 3,4,5 languages. How many have served a mission. How many have lived in another country. How many were married....with children. It was so impressive as to how many stood at each question. I dare to say that you would not have found so many well rounded graduates at any other University in the US. It made me so thankful and proud to have been blessed to be educated at BYU and now have my own children there to share in that blessing.

Tyler and Kaylee will now head to Houston Texas in July where Tyler will attend Medical School at the University of Texas at Houston. Kaylee will attend graduate school in Statistics. We are so proud of these two! Good Luck kids we LOVE YOU!

Kaylee Turns 23....Blake and Another One Of His Famous Cakes!

Posted by Tyler: I guess Kaylee's Old Man Rivers jokes about me finally caught up to her this week as she turned 23! I can't really believe it, but we have almost been married for 3 years now! Kaylee is such an AMAZING person & I am so grateful for her everyday. She is one of the most kind, hard working, and talented people that I know. She is always teaching herself new skills - knitting, baking, sewing, quilting - it really is AMAZING because she seems to excel at all of them (okay, well Kaylee is not so good with balls but I think we can overlook that)! Anyway, I am not sure what I did to deserve such a wonderful wife but there is no doubt -there is none better!All that Kaylee wanted for her birthday was a nice dinner, so I skipped my soccer game (for those of you who know me, yes, this was a sacrifice) and did what I could. I marinated some tri-tip steak in a balsamic & rosemary sauce and we had grilled red potatoes and asparagus - I have to say that it was very good! Then on Friday we had Carly & Joel and Blake & Caroline over for a cake, wii, and Catch Phrase party! Blake has become quite the cake decorating master and showed up with one of his most impressive masterpieces. Due to Kaylee's knitting obsession Blake made a giant cupcake, complete with knitting needles & yarn! As you can tell from the pictures it really was very impressive - thanks Blake!

After cake we downloaded Tetris Party onto the Wii in honor of Carly's old e-mail address: tetris521! It is usually kind of hard to get Carly involved in the Wii parties, but she was into this one. All I can say is that I hope Carly & Joel can still be friends after Joel claimed the Tetris King title!

For those of you who haven't had the honor of playing Catch Phrase with Blake Williams, all I have to say is that you should make it a life goal! Every time we get together for these parties we try to do a round of Catch Phrase and every time Blake is the most entertaining part of the game. In recognition of the fact that 1) you probably have to know Blake to think this is funny AND 2) you probably had to be there; nevertheless, let me share a classic Blakeism from last night's Catch Phrase party:
Blake: Okay guys, this is another religious one. This is when you get on your knees at night.
Blake's Team: Pray!
Blake: Yes, but the active form...
Team: Praying!
Blake: [as time runs out] Oh wait, NO - it is actually an INSECT! I forgot to read the WHOLE word before I started! It was PRAYING MANTIS!
Anyway, maybe my mom will at least get a kick out of that but it had us all on the ground laughing for a couple of minutes! Thanks Blake for always providing the comic relief!
Posted by Tyler and Kaylee at 1:23 PM 0 comments

WAHOO...MEDICAL SCHOOL FOR TYLER AND GRAD SCHOOL FOR KAYLEE!!

It has been a few months of painful waiting to see where Tyler would be excepted to Med. school. We were all so thrilled when we found out that he would be going to UT at Houston. Kaylee was also excepted into Grad. school at Texas A&M. I am a bit sick that my kids are heading back home and we are moving to the frozen north! We are so proud of these two. They work well together and set lofty goals for themselves. We love them and are so proud of them. This is what Tyler wrote on his blog about their big news! Touching....:)

Sunday, February 21, 2010

The MONTH of Good News!
Kaylee and I have had an absolutely wonderful month full of great news! On February 1st Kaylee and I woke up a little earlier than normal to wait for the match results to Texas medical schools. It was an especially stressful/nervous/sickening morning for me as I feel that I have been working towards medical school acceptance for the past five years! After interviewing at six medical schools in August/September 2009 we had been anxiously awaiting the match results that were to be posted at 7:00 AM on February 1st. After several system glitches and an incredibly tortuous and incorrect "sorry, you have not been accepted to medical school" message, we finally learned that we matched to our top choice - The University of Texas at Houston! It was a very emotionally draining morning (especially after the fake-out message); however, I feel incredibly relieved and we are both very excited about our upcoming move to the Texas Medical Center this summer.The emotional high of Monday was quickly followed up with concern on Tuesday about how to pay for medical school. For the past year we have been seriously considering whether or not to have the military finance my medical education without being able to feel comfortable with a decision one way or the other. However, on Tuesday we both began to feel very strongly that we should apply for the Air Force's Health Professions Scholarship. The scholarship program is semi-competitive and we were worried that we would not be selected, but after submitting my application on Friday the 5th we learned that we had been offered the scholarship on Monday the 8th! The Air Force will pay for my tuition, books, and fees as well as give us a monthly stipend for living expenses. In return I will serve for 4 years on active duty after completing a residency program. Hopefully, Kaylee will let me do their flight surgeon program so I can fly some of these sweet jets!

.
The good news just kept coming as Kaylee received a bonus, a promotion, and a substantial raise at work on Friday the 12th! She has worked for Overstock.com in Salt Lake City since May 2009 as a Demand Management Analyst and will stay there until we move in August.
Kaylee has also been working towards getting into a master's program in statistics. She has been studying very hard for the GRE and finally took the test on Saturday the 13th. After reporting her exam results to the program director at Texas A&M she learned on Monday the 15th that she has been accepted into their on-line master's program in statistics! I am so proud of her and her hard work! Statistics is not exactly the easiest degree program and she has worked very hard to get into this program. She will start in May by taking one class while still working full-time; when we move in August she will be a full-time graduate student.
We feel very blessed with all of this wonderful news and are so grateful that Heavenly Father has answered our prayers! For me, it has been a very humbling month as I have reflected on all of these blessings and contemplated how much our Father in Heaven truly does yearn for our success. It is often amazing to me how quickly we seem to forget our pleadings with the Lord for those things that we desire to have most in our lives after they have been granted. Before receiving the blessing it is as if we feel that all rests squarely upon the Lord's shoulders and we pray and fast accordingly. Yet after the blessing has been realized it is sometimes tempting to feel that we are entitled to our successes and forget how gracious the Lord has been in granting us our desires. Kaylee and I are so grateful for the strength of the gospel in our lives, and have felt our testimonies strengthed that we truly do have a loving Heavenly Father who sorrows with us in our failures and rejoices with us in our successes.
Posted by Tyler and Kaylee at 7:11 PM
Thursday, February 18, 2010

Baby It's Cold Outside... 8-2009

Ice Skating.....David, Me, Grant and Tyler.

" Baby it's cold outside....." we had a fun day ice skating with friends at Polar Ice. They even made snow for the kids to play in. Grant loved making snowballs.

Tyler, Grant and Camille. It was fun to have Tyler home for a couple of weeks. Grant loved him skating him fast around the rink.

Cute Camille. She was a big help with all of the little kids.

My niece Mary came with her kids. It was so fun to see them. They moved to Michigan last year and we miss having them around. Mary looks ready for the ice in her flip flops. ;) Baby Kate loved the ice.

Afterwards they had hot chocolate and cookies for all of the kids. What a great activity for a HOT August summer day in Texas. I think we all had a great time!

My BABY boy is 24 today!

It is true what they say about time.....It really does FLY! Can it be so that I really have a son that is 24!? I woke early this morning not able to sleep and my mind wandered to my life 24 years ago today. The excitement of having my first child... a son, was the bright spot in my life. Steve and I were poor collage students at BYU but we were thrilled to start a family of our own. Tyler was our first born. If I had to pick a first born....(one that would pave the way and set an example for the others) I would pick Tyler. He has always been valiant and good. (well his seminary teachers may differ with me on that..ha:) I saw in him at a very young age a spirit that was pure. He was always bothered by things that were not full of light and goodness. He is driven much like his father and sensitive like me. This is truly the circle of life as Tyler and his darling wife Kaylee are at the very same age and and very same place (literally) in life that Steve and I were 24 years ago. Only one difference.....No announcements yet. THAT I KNOW OF ANYWAY!! :)

So as I sit here today I have a 24 year old and a 4 year old. Boy I believe in spreading my kids out don't I !:) We love you Tyler. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Christmas Eve 2008

We had plans to have a few friends over on Christmas Eve for soups and breads. We were all ready when the lights went out at about 4:30. People were to arrive at 5:30. I didn't worry too much until 15 minutes later when the power was STILL NOT ON!! We finally called the power CO. who said they knew there was a problem but did not know what the problem was yet! I had company( 20 or so) coming over in 45 minutes and I had NO lights!! Side note.... I have spent the last 6 months getting ready for an emergency and I learned in a few minutes that although I have plenty of food, I can not function with no power. I will be re-thinking my plan!! :) A few stressful minutes and running to get lanterns and.... the light came back on at about 5:45. The night was saved and we had a great night of food, friends, games, stories and crafts.

Here ALL of my darling kids are in their traditional new Christmas PJ's. This year all of the boys matched (they loved that) and all of the girls matched..even Mom and Dad.

Tyler and Kaylee's Labor Day Hike. 9/1/2008

Tyler and Kaylee spent Labor Day hiking Mount Timpanogos, the second highest mountain in Utah. It took 7 hours. They said it was a very difficult hike but well worth it. Just look how beautiful it is!! I guess after biking 100 miles anything is possible!!

HOTTER 'N HELL HUNDRED August 23, 2008

THEY DID IT!! Could you be any prouder?? Steve took Tyler, Kaylee, Blake and Camille to Wichita Falls, Texas on Friday August 22. They spent the night there in a nice new hotel and relaxed and got ready for the ride the next day. The race started at 7:05 A.M. Tyler, Kaylee and Blake all did the 100 mile ride and Steve and Camille did the 75 miles. None of them really "trained" for the ride so it is amazing that they made it at all. Blake, Steve and Carly did the race last year and Blake was hoping to finish faster then he did last year. He was at mile marker 80 at 12:30 so he was on track to "blow his time out of the water" SIX flat tires (between them) later......they crossed the finish line at about 3:30. Grant and I (and of course TEX the dog) headed up the next morning to greet them at the finish line and record it all with pictures! Good Job!!

Crossing the finish line!!

Leaving Keller....

Kids...July 29, 2008

Grant ...taking it easy!

Tyler and Kaylee at the game in San Antonio.

Family Canton Trip May 30, 2008

We had so much fun when we took a short trip to Canton, Texas with some great friends. (The Rousseau's , Ellsworth's and Blake's friend Mike Yeck) We stayed at a FUN Bed and Breakfast if you can call it that as it was so much more!! This is my kind of camping...right Lori?! Check out Kaylee's fish..She had the biggest catch of the night!

P.S.: I figured out Picasa Lauren are you so proud??

(If you click the pictures it will enlarge the whole collage...for those of you that are new like me.)