Life and Times of Willie and Lee-tigre

Watch the Tanzen be Perfect

2010-09-12T12:22:00.000-07:00

Oh blogging world, I have sinned against you. A mother who has a new baby and then posts over a month later is unheard of in these days. So, I apologize and move forward. In no way does my lack of blogging reflect my interest in this new little pink bundle of goodness. We have so enjoyed having Tanzen around our home. She's the definition of a 'good' baby: eats well, sleeps well and is fun to look at.

Above is Tanzen a one month old. She spends her days eating, sleeping, getting her diaper changed and avoiding the bull who lives in the china cabinet named Henry. So far we've only had one traumatic trampling from the older brother. At her one month check up she measured 10 lbs. 7 oz and 22 inches.

I absolutely love it when babies sleep with their hands tucked by or under their chins (yes, chins. Tanzen has two right now). This is her at about 3 weeks.

Here she is at almost two weeks. We tried to get to church that day, but after a couple untimely messes in and out of her diapers, we stayed home.

And lastly, here Tanzen is on her Birth Day. She was born at 11:17 am on the 3rd of August. Her measurement were 7 lb 10 oz at 21 inches long. Her middle name is Margaret because she was born on my Grandma Margaret's 80-something birthday. I hope that just like my grandma she will be beautiful, loving, wise and fun.

Tiger time

2010-07-18T13:10:00.000-07:00

Part of July

2010-07-18T12:50:00.001-07:00

More pictures...less words.

The Rotary Gardens

The Lions

The Zoo

The Wading Pool

(What kind of mom is too lazy to slap on a swim diaper but not a swim suit?! This mom, that's who. Check out those long white legs though -miniature replicas of his daddy's legs.)

June

2010-07-06T20:11:00.000-07:00

June is all about the outdoors. We usually go to the park at least once a day. Yep, some people go to Europe in the Summer...we go to the park which is just as fun and exotic, right?! I'll try to get some pics of our exotic park trips in July.

Henry found these sunglasses in a field and couldn't be more stoked about it. Seriously.

Matt and Hens planting our little garden. We have yellow and red tomatoes and some peppers. Hopefully they will produce some good fruits for us to be proud of.

Planting is serious business.

May

2010-07-06T19:42:00.001-07:00

I can't believe I only took a few pictures this month, but it is what it is. I think we even went to the zoo for the first time and an airplane show, which would've made for some great pics.

While Willy was doing his surgery rotation, we went to Utah and Oregon for a few weeks. Here Hens is getting reacquainted with his Oregon roots. On this day, we had a lovely meal at David and Lisa's. We ate outside and it was very fun talking about eating outside :)

Henry sleeping on the plane ride back to Wisconsin. The flight was 10 times better going home than it was leaving. He slept almost the whole time. It beats a kid crying for 45 minutes straight, thats for sure. I don't ever want to travel without me hubby again!

April

2010-07-06T19:13:00.000-07:00

Henry at almost 18 months. He's turned into a little man...with no hair still.

Cousins, cousins, cousins. When we took a trip to Utah, Henry had a great time with all of his amigos. They are all just so nice to him. Unfortunately, I didn't take as many pictures as I should have of all the events.

The prettiest bride of 2010. I had a blast at her wedding. Great time.

Henry broke his leg when we were going down a slide together in early April. He stopped walking and would tuck his leg like a wounded wing until we got a cast on it. It was hard for him to slow down, but he recovered quickly and is up and running again.

One, Two, Three Jump!

2010-03-25T13:07:00.000-07:00

Henry's favorite game right now is to count to three and jump off of anything. His '1 and 3' sound exactly the same, kinda like "owne" but the '2' is pretty clear. He'd do this all day if my arms didn't get so tired.

Henry at almost 17 months. He's got green eyes and red hair...who new?!?! We sure do love this kid.

Getting old together...

2010-03-25T12:20:00.000-07:00

Back in Febs Matt and I had our 3rd wedding anniversary. We got married in Utah in 2007. Our first year we celebrated in Dominica. The second took place in the Grand Bahamas and the third right here in Janesville, Wisconsin. We're still having fun together, but WHY did we need to get soooooo ghostly white together?!! Booo! On another note, I think we've accomplished a good amount since the life merger of 2007. Matts in his third year of medical school (Yay!). We are raising a super cool kid and we have another one on the way. Last week we found out its a girl, so thats cool. She is due in early August and maybe by then, Matt and I will get a tan again so she won't be scared of us.

Here are some pics of the Team Williams couple over the years...

A month before the wedding (the date is wrong...its 2007).

2008

2009

2010...look at those translucent fingers! :)

Cool Activities

2010-02-19T10:32:00.000-08:00

For two years, we had the luxury of spending most of our time outside when it came to entertainment. Henry and I took a lot of walks and Matt played a bunch of tennis. And the beach, oh the glorious beach! It was awesome. Now, we've had to adapt to our artic surroundings. Indoor activities can be just as rad.

Janesville has their own hockey team. We got in free since it was Mercy Health night, the place Matt does his rotations. I love free events. We spent most of the night just chasing Henry around, but it was really good getting out on a Friday night. This pic was taken during the break between the first and second periods.

Every Wednesday we get to head to a local gymnastics place for Open Gym. We love it. Kids from about 12 months to 6 years old get to go wild in a huge, fun gym. There's a bunch of trampolines and gymnastics's equipment. In this pic, Hens worked on mastering the hula hoop. Very serious stuff.

This is about as far as we got up the rope...He's got "heighty" goals though.

This is Henry's friend Chase. He's a real cool kid and Henry loves doin stuff with him. And I love doing stuff with his Mom.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

2010-02-15T19:37:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven't kept up on the blog post (I owe ya ma). Both Henry and I got hit with an awful cold that lasted about two weeks. We were miserable, but thankfully Dr. Willy was around to basically do everything. I'm a pathetic sick person which annoys the heck out of me, so I'm betting those who have to be around me are just as thrilled with my worthless state. Thankfully Henry has fully recovered and I only have a runny nose to deal with now.

So Henry is absolutely obsessed with this DVD called "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" that one of his grandparents sent him in the mail. Before this, he couldn't be less interested in tv or movies. The dvd is an animated version of some old children's books. Now he must watch "boom boom" (as he calls it) at least four times a day. On a day that I was feeling pretty sick, he watched it probably 10 times. It comes in handy when I need to keep him occupied for ten minutes or so. We just get such a kick out of how mesmerized he is during these little shows. Here's Hal chompin' on some corn on the cob while he intensely watches 'The Foolish Frog'. Enjoy...

Week 3-ish

2010-01-18T13:10:00.000-08:00

Whoops. I'm a little late with week numero three. My apologies. But I usually like to add pictures to the mix of my blogs and my camera is out of batteries. And I can't find the charger because we were still living without bookshelves and dressers -until I went and bought some on Saturday (many thanks to my friend Kimi for the ride and watching Henry while I scavengered the store for deals). Now we just have to find time to put them together and hopefully our lives will feel less chaotic in our home.
So, what to write about...what to write about? Would you like me to tell you what a typical day is like for Team Williams? You would?! Great.
First off is Matt: Is at work by 7:00 a.m. and home around 6:00 p.m. where his eager family awaits his arrival. Eats, wrestles with Henry, checks for used cars online and goes to bed.
Leigh: Follows Henry around all day. Occasionally cleans and cooks. Worries about the budget, but continues to have to buy things. Sits on the couch at night watching Willy and Hens play, checks for used furniture online and goes to bed.
Henry: Has about three different morning wake ups but usually rolls out of bed around 8:15 a.m. Eats breakfast and tries to learn how to properly use a fork and spoon. Wants to climb on the counters and point to things that are hot. Picks out books for his mom to read to him. Empties the toy chest, but doesn't really play with the toys. Climbs up on Fisher Price Activity Table. Falls off and gets mad. Reads more books. Gets out broom and dustpan. Tries to put something gross in his mouth. Throws things down the stairs. Wants to look in the fridge at things. Tries to eat the fridge magnets. Pretends to go down for a nap, but 15 minutes later has thrown all of the blankets and binkies out of his crib therefore giving his mom the chance to manually rock him to sleep because he is now too tired and upset to do it on his own. Eats PB&J or mac & cheese for lunch. Repeats everything he did before his first nap but wants to read more books. Wrestles with his dad, takes a bath and goes to bed...kind of.
I know, exciting right. Don't you wish you were us, living the glamorous life? Til next week! Good-byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Week 2

2010-01-05T13:12:00.000-08:00

For Christmas, Willy and I were a little short on time to pick out gifts and the cash flow. Therefore, I gave a "promise gift" to my mom that I would do one blog posting a week for a period of time. This isn't the first promise gift I have given her...when I was eighteen, I think for Mother's Day I gave her a promise that I would not get my navel pierced and another year I said that I wouldn't get a tattoo until I was over 21 (I still don't have any body art). Honestly, what's a better gift to give then peace of mind that your adult/teen daughter isn't out pierced and inked!?! Anyways, I'm tryin real hard to make this gift a good one because I got such great Christmas presents myself this year.
My life just isn't that exciting at times which makes blogging hard, but I do have a little boy who I find quite amusing...and Matt and I have a few events we go to here and there.

Like for instance, our wonderful, absolute favorite friend in the world got married a few days before we left for Wisconsin. Way to go Hilmo! Willy was his best man. These boys have been friends since middle school and were roommates when Matt and I got married. They both looked very handsome and Kim, the bride, was gorgeous, BUT the lighting was crazy and my camera didn't pick up any good shots of the wedding.
Here's Hens fresh out of a bath of our new townhouse we are renting. As you can see we have NOTHING right now accessories wise. I will be taking pics of our place once we get some dressers, bookshelves and rugs. For now, our stuff is just piled in corners and it's not suitable for the internet. (Oh, you might also notice the toliet tissue is not on its normal spot. Henry started rolling it everywhere and ripping it up about a month ago. I thought that started later. Booo!)

This was taken today right before nap time. He'll be 14 months old tomorrow. We our very happy with his cute personality and progress. Yesterday Henry finally signed 'more' during dinner. I have been tryin to get this kid to sign something FOREVER. I may have felt prouder of myself than I did him when he put those little fingers together to ask for more because I figured I had failed at actually teaching him sign. Anyways, guess what the food was that he signed 'more' for??! J-E-L-L-O! It was his first time havin it too. Soooo funny. As of now, he signs just that one thing, but he can say HOT, CHEESE, JUICE, BALL, BAT, TEETH, THANK YOU, UP, TREE, NO (which is annoying) and COOKIE. There might be some other words he can say that I'm just not remembering right now.

Old News

2009-12-27T12:14:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas! We have been moving to Wisconsin during the Holiday season so I have no new pictures of our adventures. So mom, here is a post about old news. I will try to catch everyone up in the next post, but for now -please enjoy some photography from HENRY'S BIRTHDAY back in November (its like watching an old movie on tv...still entertaining if you like the movie).

The whole night Henry had this proud look on his face like he had done something right. It was hilarious. Although, one whole year of life is an accomplishment, so he should be proud. We were quite proud of ourselves too for getting to this point. Raising a kid is a TRIP! We have loved having Henry around. He is such a cool little guy.

Once again, look at that face! He knew that candle was something special.

Oh, the Carousel -one of Salem, Oregon's finest forms of entertainment. For a $1.50 you can take a ride of your life :) Henry had actually never been on any kind of amusement ride. He took it very seriously and held onto his horse like it was his job. We only took two rides though because it was making me sick going around and around.

Halloween Hal

2009-11-02T14:06:00.000-08:00

Time again for a post that sums up the last month or two. Or maybe I'll just skip it for now and talk about Halloween. Henry wore his scrubs/doctor outfit all day. Why you ask? Well, I put it on him in the morning to see if the top would fit and his HUGE head had the darnest time fitting into the hole. Hence, he wore the stuff all day long. Hopefully Henry having a huge head means there are some huge brains in there too. I for one have a pin head...

Such a concerned doctor...always willing to listen to a patient that has candy.

Willy and I...looking scary enough without costumes.

Our big boy getting ready to go trick or treating. And yes we understood that he is too young to even get what one does on Halloween, but he was upset every time the door opened for trick or treaters and he couldn't go outside. So we took him out to one house, Aunt Betsy's, and then let him run around.

A picture is worth a thousand words

2009-09-12T20:47:00.000-07:00

CORN!!!

HAPPY!

SILLY-LITTLE-GUY!

Before...After

2009-08-04T08:43:00.000-07:00

Crawling...

Walking!
He took his first steps at about 7 months and one week and now Henry's got it down pretty well. He's almost 9 months (I've been a tad tardy on getting a new post up). Now if only he could learn how to potty train early.

Blondie....

Brownie.

Although I'm having a bad hair day...but 5 out of 7 days are bad hair days so I just thought I should go ahead and post it anyway.

No baby....
Mommy arms!

And mommy clothes and mommy everything. Gross...I mean, motherhood is a beautiful thing.

CHICAGO

2009-06-25T18:48:00.001-07:00

About two weekends ago. Matt and I decided to buy a car...on ebay...in Chicago. We were nervous about buying a car without seeing it first, but the price was right and it added a little needed adventure to our lives. Some bike around China, we buy a station wagon. Whoo, what a rush!

Here's Halbert in our rental car we got for the trip. He loves 'driving' but can't stand his car seat...probably cuz he didn't have one for four months in the Bahamas. This was his first road trip and he did alright for a kid who can't sit still.

Here we are in the exotic state of Indiana at the tourist headquarters. We had no idea this existed until we happened to need a bathroom break. Indiana is quite hospitable.

And they, the state of indiana, like big ducks.

Once we bought our car, we had a few hours to look around Chicago before heading home. We didn't know how the city would be with parking, so we hopped on the Blue Line for an easy ride to the downtown area.

Here's the boys in front of a sculpture, doin there thang. While we were there, an urban marathon and a huge partner scavenger hunt was going on. I guess I should've asked someone about this sculpture. Next time.

Barack to the future (that was for you Double Bear)!! Chicago is cuckoo for President Obama. He was all over the Sears Tower. Henry was not impressed, but we probably have eight more years to teach him about the Yes We Can President.

We had a Chicago style hot dog and deep dish pizza for lunch. Very good. Me likey Chicago cuisine.

And here is a pic of our new wheels. We are VERY happy with the purchase. It was a bargain and a sweet ride. We grew fond of Chi-town and may go back there for some clinical rotations. Yipee!

Night Time with Henry

2009-06-21T19:51:00.000-07:00

For the past week, Halbert has been stayin up late to party. This is around 10:30 pm. We put him down with his sleepy eyes and then about five minutes later, we'll here him talking to himself. He must know that school is out for the summer.

Over a half an hour at the Bank!!!!

2009-06-02T12:58:00.000-07:00

You deserve this Mommacita. Pictures you request, pictures you shall get. I work fastest with guilt hovering over my shoulder.

Sorry it took so long at the bank. How dare Wells Fargo. How dare they!

But here's a little boy who wants to smile at you and all his other grandparents too. Wouldn't had it been nice if he had been your bank teller instead of that suspicious 19-year-old?!

And here he is again. Different day...same outfit. It's his favorite (actually its just one of the only outfits he has that is good for this cooler weather). What is truthfully his favorite are the things in his hands: a green highlighter and a folded sticker that he found. He just learned how to crawl and keep things in his hands at the same time. So of course now he has to do it ALL THE TIME. And these items are his most favorites. They are in his hands until we trick them away from him. We are still afraid Henry will poke his eye out and swallow the sticker.

Here Halbert is watching a Yankee baseball game on the computer. Matt has set a good example on what it means to NEVER miss a NY Yankee's game.

Last one for the post. This is Henry in his room with his learning table. The kid is in a diaper because sometime we have to put his clothes on in stages. He bolts almost every time we try to put clothes or a diaper on him. And although he's skinny, this little man is stronger than an ox. Henry is able to walk around and around the table now without assistance. He quite possibly might be smarter than the Wells Fargo branch you were dealing with Mommacita.

MICH-I-GAN

2009-05-11T11:19:00.000-07:00

Well, here's our latest update from Saginasty, Michigan. We packed up all our belongings in the Bahamas, which was quite a talent on our part. We only had three bags and a pack n' play that we could check. If any of the bags were over 50 lbs or if we had an extra bag, it would've cost us $200 extra dollars. That is ridiculous! So we did what any cheap-o person would do and brought like five carry-on items. Each checked bag was around 48 lbs each. Instead of putting Henry in the stroller, we used it to cart our baggage around and just held him. That was ridiculous too. Matt was such a MAN the whole trip and pushed all the luggage around like a true pro. I love being married to a muscle man.

Our belongings....most of the stuff is Henry's things.When we got to Detroit, it was around 6pm and we had bought tickets to go see the Yankee and Tigers play. Two problems: 1. We bought tickets for the wrong day and 2. It was FREEZING. After pleading with the ticket dudes to let us in, we didn't stay long since our 'warm' clothes were no match for the 40 degree weather. People were also giving us dirty looks for bringing a baby out into that frigid cold. One guy that worked there said five months was the youngest he'd met during the cold months. Whoopsies.Here's our new place for the next three months. (Don't mind the overly tired girl in the corner of the picture. Her baby still doesn't like to sleep through the night.) We really appreciate our friends for setting up this place for us. Its perfect and our landlord is great.

Just for a comparison. The picture above is Halbert on his third night alive. The picture below is him at six months. He loves the nude.
As you can see, he's changed size and color. Henry's been a real trooper these past six months. So far, he's spent time in Oregon, Utah, Grand Bahamas and now MICH-I-GAN. That sure is a lot for a little guy!

Last of the Bahamians

2009-05-03T17:14:00.000-07:00

Things we will miss in the Bahamas: the beautiful weather and the people...sigh....

Goodbye tennis courts and Eric and Knema.

Goodbye Restaurants and Tommy Carter.

Goodbye all you great baby lovers and Aileen.

Goodbye little Bahama's Branch and Henry's Bahamian Grandma Paddy.

Goodbye Rides to Church and live long friends Sister Cash and Smith. We will miss you and your families sooooo much.

And Goodbye Scooter and Kellie. Henry misses you like crazy on Sundays (Kellie, not the scooter).

Kellie, I couldn't find a picture with you so I had to steal one off of facebook because I had to

include you in the things we will miss DEEPLY in the bahamas.

Jennifer the Great

2009-04-22T12:44:00.000-07:00

This is my beautiful cousin Jennifer. And this is her day in the blogging world.

Every member of Team Williams is thinking about you today. We pray for you nightly too. And you are just so fantastic. Thanks for all the meals through out the years. Thanks for all of the relationship talks when I (leigh) was single. Thanks for being such a great example of someone who gives service to others so willingly. You are also a great example on how someone should be a mother, wife and friend.

Please get better -all the way better- soon.

Five and a Half Months

2009-04-22T11:11:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody...its Halbert. Seeing that my mother has deeply neglected blogging about my milestones in life, I've decided to once again take over and toot toot my own horn about what I've been up to as of late. Let me tell you -it is not easy being a baby. Infancy was cake compared to what I go through now....

My mom keeps the harnesses extra tight on my stroller, cuz I am a wiggly worm. I also have to always wear a hat and blankets to keep the UVs off my delicate skin. I always kick off those darn blankets when we take walks, so my mom just circles around the shady parts...talk about paranoid...its not like I am the whitest baby ever. I'm a close second, but I'm not the whitest.
Here's a nice shot of me sitting with my toys. Aren't I a happy baby?! This is where I use to have my play area, but I kept on trying to eat the DVD/VCR machine so now I'm in a different spot. I liked those wires in the background a lot too. Maybe one day I'll have a true interest in techy stuff and become the first boy with Garlock blood to be able to fix things. Thanks again Williams family for your great 'can do' genes.

Now you grandmas out there, DON'T PANIC. Yes, I did hurt myself, but I'm okay now. This is my first earth wound and it was a good one. I was crawling around on the bed and hit my nose on the corner of the bedstand. My mom watched me do the whole thing. She actually saved me from more damage because I was headed off the bed too and she caught me before I hit the ground. I don't get to play on the beds as much as I use to anymore. Not a big deal though...I've learned something new that will keep my parents on their toes...

Standing. Yep, I can pull myself up on just about anything. I don't know how to fall correctly yet, so my mom has to follow me around everywhere I go before I hit my head on the tile floors. She thinks it is very tiring, but hey, she signed up for this and I'm cute.

So thats what's been going on for the past week or two. I, I mean my mom still has to post pictures of when we had visitors here on the island. Thanks for looking. Henry, the baby, out.

La la la la This is a Blog Post

2009-03-29T12:39:00.001-07:00

La la la la...this is a blog post. Do da da da...here are some random pictures.

This was all the tin foil I found in the Reynolds Wrap container when I went to fetch it to make BBQ chicken. Who leaves barely an inch of foil left in the cupboard!?! I don't know who it was (it was probably me), but I got such a kick out of it. Sometimes you can find empty water bottles in our fridge too.

Here's a picture of Hal-bert. It was before we dropped him off at a babysitter's house for the first time. Our little guys spreading his wings...single tear. Thanks again Kellie for watching him.

A view of the sun rising in the wee morning hours. I, of course, did not take this. It was Willy. He gets up and takes care of Henry while I try to catch up on sleep for an hour or two. In all reality, I lay in bed and try to fall asleep for an hour or two and then get up feeling defeated. However, I still enjoy his help every morning.

Here's Matt and I at the fancy Ross University Fourth Semester Banquet. We got dressed up, left the babe with a sitter and enjoyed a great meal with some fellow students. The highlight of the night wasn't actually the banquet or dressing up - It was taking our teeny tiny little rental car over some speed bumps at about 40 kmph. Whoo hoo!! We got some fat air. I wish I had a picture of that.

One more month in the Bahamas...sigh. I'm already missing it.

Henry's Second Time Laughing

2009-03-08T14:56:00.000-07:00

Here is an old video that was taken in January of Henry laughing for the second time (we got the first on video but this one is better). Willy's friend, Matt C, is the one making him laugh. It cracks us up because at times it looked like he either was going to laugh or get really scared. We are mainly posting it for all of our family who can't see him while we are out of the country. Even looking back on this video, Henry has grown drastically. He is our little man.

Visitors Part One

2009-03-05T13:39:00.000-08:00

For two and a half glorious weeks, we had a well needed visitor. Good ol' Grandma Mary came out to play and boy did we have a good time. Henry especially loved (or maybe it was me who loved it) grandma holding him all day long. Hooray for extra hands.

This was the last day she was in town. Sigh. I was secretly hoping that security would reject her re-entry into the states and that she would stay.
Although the company was great, Henry has started to need a daily can of 'liquid darkness' (its an inside joke everyone) just like his grandma and father.

Here are my two favorite boys together. Both are looking very grown-up in their big boy/adult clothes.

For my Cousin Coo

2009-02-15T15:32:00.000-08:00

Hello A,

This ones for you. I am attempting to communicate with you through a blog. I thought it would be nice to give you some little updates in the form of a list. And a'here we gooooooo:

1.What am I doing right this minute...Rolling my eyes at my hubby. He just informed me that one can of salsa lasted for one bag of chips. And then he looked like he accomplished something. Oh, wait -my 'rolling eyes' attitude has now changed into me thinking he is quite cute. I cannot lie, I am smitten.

2. How did I know you wanted an update...I read my mom's blog. She was talking about all the old junk she needed to throw away of her kids. Shamefully I admit, the tags were mine. She probably had to throw out boxes, old newspaper comic pages and the other COMPLETE weird and useless things I would keep through the years. I think I kept a roll of toilet paper that had hearts on it for more than ten years...stupid.

3. What do I do all day long in the Bahamas...I play with Henry. Here is a recent picture of him. Its nice to have visual breaks.

4. How often do I think about how bummed I am that you are not coming out here...Often to quite often. Single tear. The only thing that distracts me for my disappointment is knowing that others will make the trip out here (hooray j-boogie).

5. Do I secretly wish that I could live on the same street as you and have our husbands work together at the same office and write/illustrate children's books with you and take vacations to your hometown with you and reap the benefits of your crafty slash artistic endeavors....why yes, yes I do.

Miss ya. The end.

We Cordially Invite You...

2009-01-25T11:47:00.000-08:00

Come one come all (well, don't come if we don't really know you or you're a weirdo stalker) to da' Bahamas. Willy and I would love to house you for a lovely vacation away from the cold. We are accepting visitors from now til the end of April. Our place is a tad away from the beach, but...

Its right near tennis courts, a pool and a golf course...

We also have incredible views from our four balconies on the ninth floor...And there's a guy here that studies med school stuff all day...
And a cute little baby whose growing up too fast, so you better come see him before he becomes a giant big boy...

and I really need some more interaction with people. So come visit and vacation already!!!

fake update

2009-01-18T16:55:00.000-08:00

well, this kinda of fake update. I don't have any pictures of our lovely new home or matts new school or any of our old friends or anything else. What I do have is a picture of Henry and Willy, father and son, that are basically dressed in the same outfit for church. It wasn't even planned. They didn't call each other before church and say 'hey I'm going to wear a white shirt and light tan striped, it'd be soooo cool if you did too' -it just happened. And I'm glad it did cuz they look cute...and manly.

Team Williams on three...One. Two Three!

Soon to come, some pictures of our place and of the Bahamas to lure ya'll to the island.

Bahamas Baby

2009-01-13T13:53:00.000-08:00

Onesies Twosies Threesies

2009-01-06T09:34:00.000-08:00

What a few crazy weeks we've had, weather speaking! Right before Christmas, we had no power for two nights in Oregon. Willy had to man the wood stove fire to keep us alive. The roads were NUTZO - bad form Oregon. Bad form. One day, it took us eight hours on the roads to go to Portland and back. Our plan on buying everything without sales tax miserably failed.

After a four hour plane delay, we finally made it to Utah to hang out with the Williams' clan. We got in around three o'clock in the a.m. and had to be up for family pictures the next morning. Needless to say, we looked sleepy-eyed and pasty in the pics. Although the weather has not been the best, it has been such a treat introducing Henry to his Utah relatives....

We got a BYU Cougars onesie outfit from his grandparents.

We got to meet one of our new cousins, Ben G-lock. Ben is three weeks younger than Hal. Henry's nostrils are about three times the size of Ben's streamline nostrils. Its fascinating.

And we got to hang out with all the other cousins on the Williams' side. There's 11 boys, no girls so far. How fun is that?!

I have no comments for this picture. Its just a moment with a mom and a baby.

Okay, bye.

Ho Ho HO

2008-12-13T14:41:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays everyone! Henry here. I'll sometimes be blogging because my mom doesn't seem to like doing it very often. And my dad is always studying. Sigh...so its up to me to let you know the haps. Well, I'm 5 weeks old since thursday. As a newborn, I am considered an OLD newborn now. Where I use to sleep all day long, theses days I like to enjoy life. In the morning, I dance with my mom to the Christmas music on the tv. During the day I like to stare at the different ceilings in the house in between frequent cat naps. At night, my grandma will give me a bath followed by a massage. Yep, I'm spoiled. I got three different massage lotions. This is the life.

Mom and dad are doing well too. Leigh doesn't get much sleep, but she's learning how to cope. She spends a lot of time staring at me, kissing me and talking about what goes in and out of me. Thats normal for a new mom, right?! Willy is finishing up his third semester at school this next week. And then he will be home! I can't wait. Every night, we talk on Skype so I can keep him updated on stuff, but it will be better in person.

I, Henry, had a Christmas photo shoot. I haven't mastered my smile yet, but its getting there. This outfit is my favorite because its really cozy. You can't tell, but I'm wearing a tye-dye onesie underneath. And tan socks. My mom dresses me...yikes. Merry Christmas to all!
p.s. -Mom, Dad, Which one of your gene pools left me with no eyebrows?!

re⋅dun⋅dant

2008-11-22T10:44:00.000-08:00

Well my mom's blog has a lot of pictures of Henry on it. She steals the photos so I'm going to send anyone interested in seeing the little guy to her site. He's quite fun to look at in my opinion.

link to blog

Henry...that's his name

2008-11-07T19:43:00.000-08:00

So IT happened: Team Williams is now Three Williams. Three Cheers, right! Here's some pictures from the Birthing Day 11-6-08

This is Henry's mom before she gave birth to the coolest baby ever. She had a crazy time giving birth. Lots of crying and asking for more drugs. Lots of people having to cheer her on while crying and asking for more drugs. It took almost two hours to stitch her up after Henry finally came out. This is Henry, or Hal. He was a tenth of an ounce away from nine pounds. 9! Nine. Niner.

Big, beautiful baby boy.

This is Hal with his dad. They are both the handsomest kids that have ever set foot in the S. Birth Center. Willy is very good at EVERYTHING that involves taking care of the baby. These fellas are two peas in a pod.

Baby, get out of my belly -like now!

2008-11-03T12:12:00.000-08:00

So I got this great doctor named Michelle. She agreed to induce on Thursday so that Matt could spend a few days with the little guy. This makes us happy. So if it doesn't happen before then, we will officially be parents by Thursday night -probably right before The Office and 30 Rock. We will announce his name as soon as we figure out what to name him, deal.

Good luck to the former babies: Obama and McCain and their race for presidency. I hope the right former baby is choosen.

"If a baby were president, there would be no taxes, there would be no war. There would be no government, and things could get terrible. It actually, probably - it would be a better screenplay idea than a serious suggestion." -Michael from THE OFFICE

LAZY blog

2008-10-18T13:57:00.000-07:00

As ya'll who visit this blog have already figured out, I am a lazy blogger. Lazy, Lazy, Lazy. Anyways, here's a fun little update.

This is Willy with a cup of water that came from his shower/sink on the island. Hurricane Omar hit just north of Dominica this past week. They closed the school down for one day because of the flooding and heavy rains. Willy spent the whole day at school since the power went out at our place. No lights, no tv, and brown water. Mmmmm -love that brown water.
This is me and the belly. Me-oh-my, we have both grown in the past month or two. I should be ready to pop soon. The baby still has no name. Poor Baby No Name Williams. There are a few names that Matt and I both like, but nothing is stickin'. Suggestions are always welcomed.
Well, this lazy blogger has come to the end of the post. Until next time....adieu.

Oregon a-go-go

2008-09-09T11:35:00.000-07:00

Oregon a-go-go? That doesn't even mean anything.

Well folks, sorry its been awhile since Willy and I have posted. Things have changed a lot since July. Long story short - Second Semester of medical school is done. I stayed busy in August working at the after school program while Matt studied his brains out.

On our way back home, we got to stop in Newark for a layover. It was really fun going to the New York City for a day. Highlight of the city: Brooke, Peter and their coolness. We really appreciated them coming to meet us in Central Park.

After our flight home, we just spent a fantastic two weeks in Utah bumming around Matt's parents house. The whole two weeks I was in denial about having to part ways from my husband-ban-beano for more than a month. Yesterday I flew to Oregon to live with my mom and Willy left for the island again. While we're apart, we promised each other we will only casually date other people until we reunite (just kidding, relax people -I'm pregnant and Matt has a bad back. Nobody will want to date us).
Things in Oregon have been quite tame. I play spider solitaire, hang out with the Mommacita, read, watch t.v. - no big whoop. Well, that's it for now. More to come later....
(I tried to post some pictures, but the internet kept shutting down.)

2008-07-27T15:00:00.000-07:00

So here's a few fun pictures of a branch activity we had on Saturday. It was at a local nursing home in Portsmouth, Dominica. We brought some hygiene kits from the LDS Humanitarian Center and some enthusiastic primary kids to sing some songs. There were a few children I could tell were NOT thrilled to be in a nursing home (kinda like I was at that age), but most of them did an excellent job talking to the "grandma's and grandpa's".

Our little primary singers.
Unlike in america where we lock up our 'old people' and put them in diapers, in Dominica, most of the older generation are cared for by their children. So this nursing home only had around 12 residents. They have the most centenarians (not to be confused with centurians -which I did until my poor husband had to correct me...um embarrassing!!) per captia in the world.

Here's a picture of Team Williams...looking quite haggard, in our opinion. Its a look we're getting use to pulling off day after day with a few 'pretty' days in between. At least it is better than a picture of a scar and a bruised bottom, yes?

Scars, Bumps, and Bruises

2008-07-18T10:17:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody, we got some pictures here for ya. They're not pretty, although they are pretty interesting. Sorry if any of these pictures are too graphic. Its been a graphic week.

Up first is Willy's freshly exposed scar. Its not big, but it packs a punch. It's on his lower back and only about a inch and a half long. He's been following doctor's orders and keeping his activity to a minimum. Lots of lying down, no twisting, no bending, no tennis. Despite his banishment from sports, he still wants a new tennis racket and some running shoes for his birthday.

Oh, here it is: the first actual picture of my belly's belly. Not too shabby for 24 weeks.
Okay, this is a doosie. What you are looking at is my right cheek, as in my bottom. This is the worst bruise I've had since I was 15 years old. On Tuesday I went to my friend Chelsie's to plan our ESL class. She lives on the third floor and it had been raining all day. The stairs to her place are tiled with the most SLIPPERY tile in the universe. I was being very very careful going to and from her apartment, but ZING and THONK, THUNK, THUNK, THUNK, THUNK. I fell down at least five stairs on my cushioned rump. No one was around and I didn't scream or anything - I just pathetically hobbled home in the quietness of the rain, thinking 'that's gonna leave a mark'. And it did. Poor me.

2008-07-10T08:46:00.000-07:00

So we took a sneak trip back to the states at the end of June. Matt needing surgery on his back. He was in the Portsmouth hospital on Saturday, took an exam on Monday and we were in the air by Wednesday. On Thursday he had a MRI and an appointment with the neuro-surgeon and that following Monday he went under the knife. One week laps time for surgery: not too shabby. We considered it a great blessing that everything worked out so well.

Six in the morning on the way to the airport. Morning never was a pretty time for me.

Willy after surgery. Even on drugs and in a hairnet he still looks handsome.

Happy couple on the happy day. They look marvelous.

Chill-axing at the wedding. Who sits like that after the age of 80?! Grandma, that's who.

Back to the island. Sigh.

We have a few shout outs to make concerning this trip:
R & C Williams - thanks for the fantastic accommodations. There's a big I.O.U. with your name on it that you can cash in 10 or 15 years from now!!
Michael aka 'servant boy' - thanks for all the rides and the tutorial on your iTouch. Also thank your wife for the cookies she sent with us for the trip back. Mmmmm, they were gone by Puerto Rico.
My cousin's in Denver - thanks for letting me slumber at your place.
Cafe Rio - Your pork salad tasted as good as I remembered.
Dr. Gardner - You did a bang up job on Willy's L5 - S1 disc. Thanks for penciling him in on your schedule that was booked out three months.
Hilmo - It was a dream come true that you traveled up to utah the week we were in town. Thanks for being the special person you are.
Hammy - thanks for getting hurt at Lake Powell so I could see more of your pretty face. And thanks for the ride to the airport at 5 am. You are a true friend.
Delta Airlines - Thanks for the great seats. It really helped my hubby's back to be able to stand during the flight. I love Delta.
Wimbeldon - Your tennis matches entertained us for hours when matt was bound to the bed. Although it would've been nice if you didn't have your final match with Roger and Rafael right during church on Sunday.
Mommacita - Thanks for the care package and all the good blogs to read. Even though you were three states away, it felt better than being a whole nation apart.
And finally MILK - We love you United States Milk and your delicious goodness. Parting with you was like losing a limb. See you again in August.

Yah Boyeeee II

2008-05-21T06:28:00.001-07:00

Picture of the baby in cozy womb.
Picture of the baby's parents in cozy bus ride.

Yah Boyeeeee!

2008-05-20T12:27:00.000-07:00

hey so I'm sitting next to a loud-breather in the library, which will make this a brief entry. (I don't do annoying noises very well right now...can't he stop breathing while I finish this?!?!) BUT I thought you all might want to know that we are having a MALE child. Hooray. It is such fun news to find out. I'll post a pick of the ultra sound once I get away from Captain Loud Lungs.

Shiver Me Timbers

2008-05-08T12:17:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had one of those moments where you have to stop and take it all in and think... am I really here doing this?... I have had that feeling at least weekly since we got off the plane in Dominica. Today was definately one of those days... OK, so my new favorite place that no ones ever heard of... Batibou. We had some time to kill before school starts again on monday so we got together with some fellow students, called our good buddy Ren, a local man with a van and a plan, loaded up the kiddies and rode a half hour into the jungle toward the atlantic side of the island where Ren dropped us off and said, "no problem, just follow this trail and you'll find it..."

So off we went...

we hiked down this way...

...passed this...which was awesome...

...finally hit a break in the canopy and saw this...

... which reassured us we were on the right trail... we hiked through a little more of this...

... and then we were here. It was deserted...We had the entire beach to ourselves and no signs of civilization in sight. Batibou is one of those places (of many in Dominica) that make you feel certain you are the only ones to have ever been there. It's just coconuts, cliffs and clear blue water. There is a natural rock reef that you can snorkel in, around and through and plenty of sand and sun. Rumor has it they filmed parts of Pirates of the Caribbean here... but many places on the island seem to make that claim to fame so who knows... I've only seen the films once and that long ago so maybe some film buffs can weigh in on the issue- and yes despite the foxy pictures, Leigh is in fact 4 months pregnant still... I swear I'm feeding her at every opportunity...

Update-a-roni

2008-04-15T06:28:00.000-07:00

Hello friends and family,

Well, this last Saturday Matt and I got to hang out which doesn't happen very often other than on Sundays. His classes are over (hooray) and he has a good ten days to study for finals, so we took a great/not-so-great trip down to the main city Roseau. Two of our friends, the Taylors, came with us. We had a lovely meal at the only nice hotel on the island and looked around the city a bit.

In the picture above, we are standing on the deck of Fort Young Hotel, overlooking the calm ocean waters. Ahhhhh, tranquil.

This is one of the buildings in Roseau. As you might notice, it is kinda rundown, having no roof anymore. A man known around town as the Spiceman sells spices and hundreds of different home made rums inside. Usually the streets are packed with people and cruise tourists, but it was about 4 pm and everything shuts down earlier on Saturdays around here. It was fun to have the streets to ourselves.

Here are the Taylors and us by a pretty little waterfall. A security guard took this picture, obviously not understanding that we wanted a picture with the waterfall as a beautiful background. Oh well.

Here's Willy in the front seat of the transport for the ride home. On the way to Roseau he got really sick and threw-up twice out the bus window. Poor poor Willy. The drivers here are crazy and the roads are even crazier. Roseau is only 26 miles from our home, but it takes an hour to get there because of all the twists and turns and hills and goats that are in the road. By the time we both got back from the trip, we were spent. So, it was a great/not-so-great trip.

We're back...

2008-03-26T12:54:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm sorry for the one month hiatus we took from writing on our blog. I just wasn't really feeling the blog sensation and Willy has been busy with the grinds of medical school, so he's off the hook. But I have no real excuse.....or do I?>>>>

Well, let me just preface my excuse with a picture.

I bought some of this today. What! Queso in a jar....gross. And I paid a good 15 EC ($7.00) for it. It looked so good on the shelf of the local grocery store. I had to have it. Cheese and carbs have been looking very tasty these past couple weeks. Cookies, blogs and the sound of my husband's sexy voice (things I have always previously enjoyed in large quantities) have brought me the verge of heaves.

So, I pose the question one more time: Do I have a good excuse for not blogging? Yes, I think I do. I'm pregnant. There, it's out on the impersonal world wide web now for all to know.

It's the oddest thing being pregnant. There are so many extremes. I feel like I am a big hyperbole now. Your body changes, you want to cry during episodes of Law & Order, you can eat a ton and then you can't eat at all, you want to nap all the time, you have really strong rude opinions about everything, something is growing inside of you, the smell of certain foods makes you feel like you are going to die...and you get this super exciting feeling that your life is going to never be the same again, but it's a good thing.

Anyways, I'm just getting over the "bad" weeks of being pregnant. I hope to blog a little more

often from now on. I'd also like to publicly send a shout out to my super cool and supportive hubby. He's been so nice and patience with my abnormal emotions and fickle stomach. Although I'm probably biased, I think our kid is going to have the best dad in the world.

Middleham Falls

2008-02-18T09:37:00.000-08:00

I tried to create a six picture series so you could see how long the water fall really is. As you can see, it only kinda worked. It was quite beautiful though. Myself and four other ladies went on this hike last Saturday, leaving matt and the other med students to study for their first big exam. The first "mini" is going on right now! Best wishes to my study bug Willy on remembering all the information he studied. Anyways, the Middleham hike took about 50 minutes each way.

We had a guide from Extreme Adventures named Victor who was fabulous. When we got to the falls, the mist was freezing. Victor, who grew up on the island, said he has never come to the falls without jumping in. Four of us followed him down the rocky banks to test our guts and took the plunge into the cold cold water. We jumped off some cliffs and climbed in some caves -it was invigorating.

From the left: Jamie, me, Katie, Aileen, Erica, Mike -the extreme adventure crew :)

Savanne Paille Primary School

2008-02-15T09:59:00.000-08:00

What we got here are the four coolest kids in school : (from the left clockwise) Bernard, Mick, Pria and Leon. Kevin was absent the day I took this picture. Every thursday morning I head to the neighboring town of Savanne Paille (it's french so it sounds like savon pie) to help these little darlings with their reading skills. It's one of the highlights of my week so I wanted to document it on the bloggy blog. They get to wear uniforms to school four days of the week. Pria's skirt is always blowing up while we are reading since we sit outside where it is always windy.
Anyways, it's really different working with kids that are from the states and kids that are local. The locals are much more well behaved, which is a nice change from the rascals I do the After School Program with. When I asked the bunch if I could get a picture of them, I thought they'd be hesistant. But they were super excited to have me snap a few shots of them. I even got them to pose with some books (see below) -that made me laugh because it was so staged, but they were still excited about it.
We read books that a family in america collected and sent out to the island. The kids' favorite so far are the Arthur books. They also like the Magic School Bus series of books. Anyways, if any of you want to do a service project and send some more books to the island, it would be much appreciated. The books can be used, they're not picky around here.

"Hey, send us more books cuz we're cute."

To Mother Mary G. and Mother Camille

2008-02-14T13:58:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day Moms. We love you and miss you both. Here is a vase of hearts as our gift to you on this "heartfelt" day. The guy that sold it to us said you would be able to reach through your computer and take your gift --like in sci-fi movies.
Thank you for all the unconditional love and support we've received from you throughout our lives. Hugs and Kisses -Matt and Leigh

January Showers Bring Lots-O-Flowers

2008-02-03T16:50:00.000-08:00

Here a collage of just some of the wonderous flowers and foliage found on the island. If you click on the pictures, it will zoom in closer. I took most of these on the way home from church until my camera ran out of batteries (sorry if some of them are blurry).
Speaking of church, did we mention that we walk to church in the mornings: forty minutes, in the rain, up hill -both ways?! No joke --it's crazy. I can't wait to tell my kids about how "hard" we had it. haha.

Check it out...

2008-01-30T17:22:00.000-08:00

Hey so my friend from Oregon, Jessica Milnes, just put together a website featuring her photographs. Her work is fantastic and I think everyone should check it out.

www.jessicamilnes.com

Prophet Seer and Revelator

2008-01-28T05:35:00.000-08:00

President Gordon B. Hinckley passed away on 27 January 2008. He was 97 years old. He was the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and a prophet of God.

Evenly Eventful

2008-01-27T09:59:00.000-08:00

Hello one and all. Well this has been quite an eventful week. There were a lot of new things I did this week as Matt studied. Most were good, some bad.
GOOD - I attended a new yoga class on Saturday. It was on a deck right next to the ocean. There was no music, just the sound of the wave lapping against the sand and my breathing. Very exhilarating.
BAD - I can't stop eating cookies (or any other food). One night I consumed a whole box. Ridiculous.
GOOD - On Thursday I started going to two new service opportunities. In the morning we went to a school to work on reading with children. At night at the church there is a ESL class which I will help teach in the coming weeks. It's nice to stay busy here. I feel lucky.

BAD. Very bad- I experienced a nightmar-ish ordeal with some weavels in my food (I would blog about it, but it still makes me ill to think about it. Maybe another time.)

GOOD - Matt and I got new callings in the ward. He will be teaching Elders Quorum and I will be a Relief Society teacher. Pretty laid back callings, hip hip hooray.

Here are some other pictures from the week. Enjoy!

This is a picture of some of the children in the After School Program (4 of the 12). We were playing the game Sardines. Some had never played it before and were having trouble not giggling. Everyday this group of kids does something hilarious.

Here is a picture of many of the fruits and vegies we get at the market every Saturday. I wash it in bleach water to destroy the bacterias. Usually I'll pick up mangoes, oranges, apples (which are expensive), grapefruits, all kinds of lettuce, carrots, onions, cucumbers, peppers, green beans (our favorite), limes, potatoes, and bananas. Since I'm so indecisive, it takes me forever to pick out the produce...but well worth it during supper time.

Ok, I'm pretty proud of myself about this shell. When Matt took a break from studying on Friday, we went to the local beach for a swim. The ocean doesn't have too many waves, but there is plenty of sea life close to the shores. I brought my goggles and was checkin out the fishes and such. Suddenly, I saw this baby laying by a small coraled rock. I shouted to Matt that I found a shell and asked if I should try bringing it to shore -a lot of big shells have creatures living inside them. He said go for it, so I dragged it behind me all the way back to the beach. I was a tad nervous something was inside of it, but my mind was put at ease after checking it out with Willy.

It's cool, huh. I did a victory shout on the beach and showed everyone that came by my new trophy (I'm such an american idiot). It's not everyday you find a shell as big as your head, so that was a great event.

Now this is a great picture: Willy studying his brains out. Don't you just feel smarter by lookin' at this pic?! It will be a site to see for many more days, months, and years to come. I'd just like to give a shout out to him for doing such a dedicated job at studying so far.

Whitey Coats

2008-01-20T12:18:00.000-08:00

This marks the end of the first week of medical school. Good job Willy for working hard. The school had a white coat ceremony to welcome the new students into their new profession (or the pathway too there new profession). We both thought it was a little silly to take pictures of an event which still had four years left of grueling hard work....but Matt looked all sorts of cute in a medical outfit, hence I couldn't resist.

Here are some of our newer friends. Aileen Mosele and Matt Cullings (Texas), us and Chelsie and Keith Taylor (Idaho). Special thanks to Jenny Garlock for the cute green skirt I'm sporting. Basically I wear it every other day because it's light-weight, comfy, and a great color. Special apologies to all who have to see me in this skirt all the time.

This pic above is Jonathan Napitupulu (L.A. and Indonesia), Willy and Adam Heath (Ohio). We met these guys in Antigua when we all missed the airplane. They are great guys and hopefully will be great study-buddies for Matt.

I Love Lists

2008-01-15T15:50:00.000-08:00

Crazy things I've seen on the island so far:

1. Man driving a motorcycle while drinking a beer.
2. The LDS church building is a bright lime green color. Think 80's neon green. You can't miss it.
3. Most of the students at Ross look like they are going to the beach, but they are actually going to class.
4. In the mornings I have Farrah Fawcett hair. It's hot, but only lasts for about an hour.
5.The roads look like they are only big enough for one lane of traffic. Nope, two crazy vans going opposite directions are going to squeeze on the narrow slap of pavement...
6. One box of Pop Tarts are 14.95 EC or around $7.00 USD. Crazy. They're not $7.00 good.
7. Stray cows. I can't get over that one. Why are they so skinny when all they do is eat all day? And why doesn't anyone own them?

Things about Dominica that are super cool:

1. The diversity of the students who are attending.
2. Not having to wear a coat or a pair of winter boots...ever.
3. The little branch of saints who are valiant and friendly.
4. My Farrah Fawcett hair in the mornings.
5. The three minute walk to the beach from our place.
6. Knowing that because I married Willy all of my wildest dreams are coming true (living by the ocean, in a warm climate, with friendly non-materialistic people around, etc.)
7. A taxi ride is less then 40 cents from our place to the middle of the town.
8. I get to volunteer at an after school program and work with darling kids.
9. The lizards and birds and iguanas and roosters and goats and stray cows and fish and plants and flowers!

Things I miss about the United States of America:

1. Living by family.
2. Cheap food.
3. Hammy and Hilmo.
4. The big screen ghetto cinema.
5. My kitchen appliances.
6. Having a job.
7. A toilet that flushes correctly, with no surprises.

Cabritz and Ft. Shirley

2008-01-12T14:08:00.000-08:00

Ok, so as promised we made the trip back to Ft. Shirley with the camara and checked out the ruins more extensively. It really is a remarkable place.

This is looking north over Prince Rupert bay at Cabritz peninsula. Fort shirley(the rebuilt part) overlooking. You can see how a fort on this peninsula is in good position for defending the bay.

Cannons looking from the fort back over the bay from the previous photo.

Hiking the saddle (which was cleared of trees during the time of the fort) between the east and west peaks of Cabritz brings you to the north battery which shows the signs of what rainforest plants can do to stone and morter after a two hundred years.

Here is leigh inside the ruins.

More ruins, cannon still aimed north ready to defend Douglas bay, and the British Royal insignia. All around the fort you can see cannons still sitting on the origional cannon stand with the wheels sunk in about 2-3 feet of mud. Most of this site is unexcavated... metal detector anyone?

Leigh doing her best captain hook impression on a 18th century cannon laying in position along the old wall running east and west along the north side of Cabritz, just as the British left it centuries ago. The archeologist in me is going nuts right now... things like this all all over there...unbelievable.

Looking north off Cabritz you can see Guadalupe in the distance, a french island. directly below this photo is a great snorkeling spot called Rose Garden.

These are all pictures of the east side of the peninsula at the Commandants quarters. You can clearly see how stately this two story sturcture once was. It had arched ceilings, and flagstone flooring. it also has two bunker rooms and a tunnel (storage perhaps) leading around behind the structure. I found a cenuries old iron spike- looks like a hinge pin to an old iron gate door to me.

You can see how the trees treat these structures, unimpressed with the imperial might that had them built, they get their branches in and literally rip the stone walls to pieces. Here is a peice of a wall or house suspended 5 feet off the ground... rule of the jungle applies here to be sure.

We saw this near the Commandants quarters. Standing 60 or so feet tall and spiny all the way up, 20 bucks goes to any amateur (or professional) botanist who knows what type of tree this is... and 1000 bucks to anyone who climbs it!

As always here, when we left the park we were treated to the always different, and always spectacular sunset over the caribbean sea...

Are you for scuba?

2008-01-08T16:27:00.000-08:00

Well, matt and I forgot our camera today on the very best adventure we've had so far...which means in the near future, we should do it again and bring it! (Hence, you only get a pic of the map of Dominica) Matt's first experience with snorkling and my second was spectacular. We drove around Portsmouth to Cabritz, a national reserve in the northwest corner of the island, containing the remains of Fort Shirley, an 18th century British military post complete with gunneries overlooking the bays to the north and south of the peninsula (the peninsula directly above the word "portsmouth" on the map at right). What is unique about this sight is that the cannons, and stone ruins have not been restored, so things are pretty much as they were left when the Brits abandoned the island. Willie and I went with our two new friends from Texas -Matt and Aileen. They are a hoot.

After weaving around snakes, lizards and crabs through a thick tropical forrest, we reached a rocky beach edge called Rose Garden. We then ventured out to the underwater entertainment. All sorts of long fish, flat fish, electric blue fish, stripped fish, and schools of fish swam around makeshift coral and rock homes. I actually saw a big fish attack a smaller fish and eat it! Matt saw a sea snake slithering on the buttom of the ocean which then settled in between a circle of rocks. The snake was not happy with sharing its space with any other fish. It was fasinating!

Heading home, wet and sun-kissed, we past two stray cows (they have stray cows around here like most neighborhoods have stray cats) chewing on some grass on the side of the road. We had to walk quite a ways until a transport bus picked us up. There is just so much happening around I have never seen before. Everyone is friendly here -once you are friendly to them first.

The one thing I could live without is the bugs though. Matt just killed a cockroach in our bathroom and we were informed kindly by my landlord today that right now ants take over the kitchen. At least in a couple of months ant season will be over -something to look forward too!!

Hope you all are doing well.

feelin' Dominica

2008-01-05T17:15:00.000-08:00

So after a missed flight that "stuck" us in Antigua for a night... is stuck the right word?... we finally arrived in our new home for the next couple years, the Nature Island of the Caribbean, the island where parts of Pirates of the Caribbean II was shot, the Island of Dominica. Leaving Antigua at 530 am after flying a redeye from Salt Lake to Newark, then a 4 hour flight to Antigua left these two cowboys wondering what we had gotten into. We boarded a two-prop puddle jumper in antigua before the sun was up. Luckily it was only a 30 minute flight and we had 4 or 5 other stranded classmates to keep us company on the trip.

The approach into melville-hall airport comes in low off the sea and traces a small canyon to an unlit runway, all routine no doubt for the caribbean pilots. We landed and embarked on a taxi ride along the coast and across the interior of the Island to our apartment in picard, right across the street from Ross University...

As we watched the sunrise over the undescribable island scenery, we thought, "yeah... I think we might be able to pull this off."... and one nagging question to all those we left behind in the gorgeous rocky mountains...
Wanna get away?...

VETERANS DAY

2007-11-11T20:18:00.000-08:00

On November 11th the nation honors all those who served in the armed forces. I join with many in giving my thanks for those who willingly sacrifice to ensure that their fellow citizens are able to walk, worship, raise families and raise protest under the treasured banner of freedom. One of the most sobering experiences of my life has been the opportunity to talk with veterans from both the WWII and the war in Vietnam. As they shared their experiences with me, I was moved. Hearing their stories of faith and sacrifice had such an impact on me. Shakespeare wrote: "He who sheds his blood with me today, shall be my brother..." How much stronger then should our hearts be tethered to those who shed their blood for us? To all those who have served, currently serve, and the families of veterans -I offer a sincere but somewhat inadequate thank you. Your sacrifices have made a difference. I hope within each of us is a desire to live morally correct. To live honestly, to be charitable, to exercise our freedoms in such a manner as to be worthy of the price that liberty cost.

List of a few great war movies:

Saving Private Ryan
Saints at War Documentry
The Longest Day
The War -Documentry directed by Ken Burns
Band of Brothers HBO Series
Tora! Tora! Tora!
Letter from Iwo Jima

San Francisco... That's fun to say...

2007-10-21T21:50:00.000-07:00

I sincerely wish I knew how to rotate this photo... sorry all- someone give me the tutorial via comment please... We spent the week in San Francisco (known in french as the city of lights) with Leigh's mother and Uncle David. What a city it is! Leigh massaged computer types at a convention in San Jose monday-Thursday and Matt flew out to play for the weekend. It was voted (2-0) to be our favorite vacation as of yet. We spent thursday getting free stuff at Leigh's convention and walking around San Jose. Friday we joined Leigh's Mom and Uncle David walking around the San Fran piers. We toured a liberty ship, saw the aquarium and realized that Matt was the only one in the whole city wearing shorts... at least they weren't his denim pair...

We enjoyed great views of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge, all which were wonderous to behold. Shopping in the square brought big city feel and gave us a chance to check out the architecture of the city which give the city so much culture. It was so much fun to hang around with the Walton siblilngs. Kudos, kudos to Uncle David for being such an amazing tour guide and gracious host. All in all we give the trip 4 1/2 out of 5 stars... (half star deduction for Matt's blatant exposure of his white calves...)

Weddings R Us and the blue room

2007-10-14T11:50:00.000-07:00

The Blue Room in the Manti LDS Temple... Have you been there? It's breath-taking. It's better than one million dollars. It's one of life's wonderful surprises. If you attend the temples and haven't been to this one, GO. If you're not yet a member of the LDS church, BECOME ONE, so you can experience the pure joy of sitting in a bluerfect room of blue goodness.

In all seriousness though, the Manti Temple is a wonderful place. Matt and I got to attend Andie and Aaron Trammel's awesome wedding slash sealing there on October 12, 2007. The day started early at around 5:30am with the long travel to Manti in a covered wagon. Psych, we actually got to ride in a pimpin Cadillac. Very comfortable and smooth automobile.

Amiee Garner, a friend of ours from Church, was kind enough to come to Manti on such short notice to be the wedding photographer. The blonde Williams' clan mixed with the brunette-filled Trammel family made for some very attractive shots. Like clock work, neither Matt nor myself remembered to bring a camera to take pictures of the lovely event -hence you get a picture of the manti temple instead of a picture of the happy couple.

After pictures, everyone in the wedding party mingled at a texas roadhouse and enjoyed some good eats. We then traveled back to Provo, five deep in a Geo Prism singing to the local radio station's old 1990's hits (Bryan Adams was rippin up the charts).

All in all, it was a great event.

Fall is here and I'm not in school...

2007-10-07T09:51:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it is autumn again in Provo, the leaves in Provo canyon are turning all sorts of colors, mornings are crisp, Nordstrom's is packed on Saturdays with all the returning students spending Mom and Dad's Fall semester stipend... and don't even think about trying to get a bench at 24 hour fitness after 5 pm. For about the last decade or so fall in Provo has meant that both Leigh and I have been neck deep in procrastination as we plowed through another semester at the Coug. This one, however, is different. We have no classwork responsibilities, no homework responsibilities, and unfortunately until recently... no backup plan. But alas, we have begun a new chapter in our lives and are beginning to plan accordingly. Matt has found amusement driving to work each morning and watching sleepy-eyed students somnambulating to their 8 o'clock classes... Leigh has been the epitome of effectiveness at home taking care of all traditional domestic projects as well as working as a real estate agent (an occupation which has thus far brought her no satisfaction) and a massage therapist. All in all we have had a ton of fun... traveled a bit and enjoyed each others company.

Congrats! Congrats! to Andi and Aaron Trammell who announced they are getting married next friday, October 12th. That makes a bakerssss dozen marriages for Richard and Camille this year. Pretty cool... all our best to those two kids and their collective 7 studly boys...

Reunion pics...get ready to meet the Garlocks

2007-08-10T21:44:00.000-07:00

This is the Oregon Coast. The coast usually packs a triple punch with rain, wind and cold. We caught the week that it wasn't rainy which only happens about five days a year.

The paddle boats were quite a hit after 1975 called and wanted their speed boat back...the paddle boats were faster anyways, especially with three strapping Garlocks manning the paddles. And check out that white meat on matt's thigh. Yah baby.

We have skits every night with the different families representing. This is the Patty's family doing some sort of Giant Head skit. Our family did an Antiques Roadshow spoof. The Tommy's took the cake though with there Garlock Hai-kus.
Classic.

Other relatives in very candid shots. This was the night of Grandma Margaret's 84th birthday.

Entertainment, yes please

2007-05-13T17:12:00.000-07:00

Once again, three weeks have passed since we last wrote. And what an interesting three weeks it was. Here is a quick run down:
1. Leigh finally discovered why the phrase "half an hour" or "I'll see you in an hour" was said with a "an" instead of a "a". Big news huh.
2. Willie got to take a quick trip to the city of angels with his friend Bryce to watch some major league baseball games. It was Team Williams first separation since the merging of their lives back in Feburary. Leigh made another discovery: Matt is her link to the outside social world. As Willie was at the games, Leigh found herself slipping into an addiction of watching America's Next Top Model marathons. She has yet to recover. The Angel's games were quite exciting for the male duo. They got to sit four rows behind the plate, on soft chairs, for free.
3. Leigh got a new job with a project management company called At Task, Inc. She enjoyed her position as a glorified secretary (Office Manager). But then she quit to do Real Estate -to make more money. But then she decided she liked At Task (its a really great company) and wants her job back. Last week she was juggling both jobs which made for a VERY grumpy girl. Good ol' Willy was able to tame the beast with his supportive shoulders and calming words.
4. The picture that is attached to this posting was taken of us in Europe in a 14th century village...Alright, you caught us -it's just a pic of us on top of the Y mountain. But it was a monumental hike because we swallowed our pride and decided it wasn't that dorky to hike the infamous Y trail. Utah is heating up so Team Williams started the trek up the mountain around 8:45 am. It is now our goal to go hiking every week to prepare Matt for a hike to King's Peak with the varsity scouts. We'll let you know how that goes.

Picture to Stare hard

2007-04-26T08:35:00.000-07:00

Jobs and what not

2007-04-22T19:59:00.000-07:00

What a difference three weeks makes... since the last update, Leigh has finished her third educational pursuit and got officially licenced as a bonafide agent. So the score becomes 3-love for the better half... (Yes we keep very detailed score here... we divide the weekly points by BMI, and then times by conversion factor of 71.4 to see who does saturday laundry...) Willy made a good faith attempt at getting into a grad program by squeaking in a couple applications with only hours to spare on the deadlines... I would not recommend it as a strategy. Leigh has got her hands full Covey-izing her affectionate, but slightly disorganized husband.

New this week: Leigh has had 2 non-sick days in a row, Mary I think she heeded your advice about faking illness, she has been sick clear through A-rods record setting spring... We are both really hoping that this nasty little bug is out of the schneebs for good and she can return to her chipper energetic old self. Matt's dip into the construction world ( being done in the mean time while he finds more ways to put off applications for next year...) has been true to the adage feast or famine. We're still waiting for some bids to get accepted and hopefully it will spur steady employment and insurance and all. Leigh decided to take matters into her own hands last week, called up a friend and got a job the next day as the office manager for a software company- @ TASK. She continues her midas streak of being gold at anything she wants to do. We have somehow despite illness, joblessness, and all, been blessed with all that is needful for us to survive and in fact live confortably.
We recently got called to be the YM and YW presidents in our ward, thus proving the theory of callings via dart-board. It has been fun to get out of 'singles ward land' however and to meet with young people. On to the next episode shortly we are hoping- Love to all... Matt and Leigh

Chuck-O-Williams

2007-04-01T18:10:00.000-07:00

Hello world. Well, we did it! We made it to the month mark in marriage on March 17th. It's all smooth sailing from here - are we right folks?! To celebrate the joyous occasion Matt tried to woo leigh with a little fine dining at the local Chuck-O-Rama. Sad to say Leigh loved the idea, but when they got there she fell ill and couldn't stand in line with the other Chuck-O-Rama enthusiasts. Alas, another special day will have to come before hitting the buffet again. Maybe Arbor Day?
Things are rolling right along for Team Williams. Matt has been finishing up a construction job on a very steep roof top. His partner slipped and fell off the 15-foot roof after a snow storm. Yikes! Matt also had his last basketball league games for the Provo and American Fork areas. Its not certain if he'll be returning next year, since the bumps and bruises that he got at the games were worse than a 15 round boxing match. 30-year-old men are feisty. Leigh didn't do much these past few weeks. After feeling sick on the seventeenth, she went into the doctor and found out she was pregnant. HAHA. Just kidding. She actually had a bad intestine infection that has required her to take four antibiotics per day. Slow recovering is the name of the game. She will be quite grateful for good health when it finally comes back.
Well until next time...GO OHIO STATE!! Beat that girl Noah to the ground.

No tv and still surviving

2007-03-11T17:18:00.000-07:00

Contrary to popular belief, there is life after television. Leigh has proposed, against fierce but loving protest by her ESPN addicted husband Matthew, that the purchase of a television and cable TV package should wait until we are somewhat established and have some steady income from which to budget(if that's what we choose...) Matt comes from years of training himself to be aware of virtually everything associated with sports television in the month of March (ahh the ruckus that is March madness!..)lest he should be left unprepared for any water-cooler conversation that starts with, "Did you see that game..." sadly, at this point, Willie would have to retort sheepishly..."No, No I didn't"... Sad it is, but not to fret, this lack of tube time has allowed us to get spend a majority of time doing old-fashioned, out of date things like... talking with each other... visiting friends... setting goals... contemplating future plans... and even growing closer by enjoying each others company... I know, you are all asking yourselves, "should I call comcast and set up an intervention?"... but rest your minds, all is well. The time has been a refreshing reminder of what is needful in life.
Ah how the events in our lives are colored by our environment... We were excited to share our first sunday together actually attending our proper ward that we are officially supposed to be attending-(the previous 3 sundays were the product of traveling, and/or misinformation about start times, etc...) Church here starts at 9 AM sharp, much to Leigh's delight...missed the first hour because both of us were not in the know about daylight savings. Leigh's optimism thought it a blessing.
Other news:
Matt's brother Mike got married to Melissa on March 9th. It was the second greatest marriage of 2007.
Leigh graduated from Real Estate school and will be taking her licencing exam this coming week and then be putting her whatever it is to the grindstone to make some money for the Williams' team.
Matt starts a fantastic job with Aaron Trammell and crew working construction this next week. We are stoked about the good company and great opportunity until medical school comes our way.

The beginning...

2007-02-27T20:52:00.000-08:00

It was the 17th day of february the weather was kind, the sun was ablaze, the sea was angry... but all were happy. The wedding went down without a hitch... (perhaps the wrong expression?...) It was in fact thirty years to the day that Leigh's parents were married in the salt lake temple. A special occasion it was. Our thanks to all who attended and/or sent well wishes. Our special thanks to Leigh's grandpa JR Walton who performed the ceremony in the Mt. Timp temple, it could not have been done with more love or spirit. We give much deep and sincere appreciation to Davin and JeriLyn Stilson and family who so readily let us invade their home for an evening and family dinner afterward, you may have your house back... Another big thank you to Dave and Shawnee Young who so kindly and readily opened their home and cupboards to the Williams crew up in Salem...Also, to Matt's parents for the help given with all this, your 29 years of instruction and coaxing your handsome 2nd son were not in vein... you may relish this moment and accomplishment without conscience. To Leigh's mother we say thank you for all the efforts, artistry and care put into all of the activities. I, Matt, thank you for teaching your daughter the ways of a mother in Zion (much by example no doubt), she is already a pro. Finally to all who took part, traveled, or otherwise shared this day with us we say thank you for being a part of our lives, we look forward to continued associations and pleasing times... that being said... WOOHOO! Willy scored a red hot smokin' wife!! We are doing well so far, getting settled in our humble downtown Provo (the city of lights... origionally discovered by famous explorer leonardo dicaprio in 1941) abode and gettin Leigh through her real estate school. This puts her in the category of true reniassance woman, accomplished in everything she puts her mind to (I reiterate to previous WOOHOO!). Willy will continue to pursue the american dream of one day having a real job... that is the update for now. Life has been well blessed for us both, we are grateful to a loving Father who has directed this whole set up from the start...

P.S. Jake and Jenny... very strategic pick of dumpy little provo apartments...