lesson learned

I was at Cafe Rio the other day with Sarah picking up up my free meal (thanks mom), so it was a pretty good day! I'm at the register paying and I have Sarah on my hip, wallet and keys shoved in my back pocket, food in one hand and drink cup in my teeth. The cute Cafe Rio girl says hola to Sarah. I take the cup out of my mouth and ask Sarah to say "hola" to the girl, she does. So cute. Then the girl asks if I want help out with my food. I smile and say no, they have a line of customers and I can manage, I'm supermom right?, yeah right :) I bite onto the cup again as I shlep Sarah and I and all of our stuff over to the drink station to get my diet coke. I put the bag of food down as I fill up my cup and I hear a man behind me say, "Do you want help out to your car, it looks like you have your hands full?" I glance at the man and with a smile that says "you're right, I do need help after all, I'm going to swallow my pride" I say thank you and he picks up my food as I scramble to put a lid on my cup and grab a straw and napkins. I hoist Sarah up further on my hip and we walk out to the car, which was right in front. I put the drink down on the hood, put Sarah down and turn to the man with my now free hands to take the food. And that's when I finally get a good look at him. He only has one arm.

I quickly smile and thank him sincerely for his help, he smiles back and heads back in to the restaurant and as we head home with our food I think about this. He probably lives his life most days thinking how nice it would be if someone helped him out, and knowing for himself what it is like to have only one free hand how hard it is. He probably has to ask for help a lot, even if he rather not. What a wonderful act of service he gave me but more importantly a wonderful lesson in recognizing your strengths and weaknesses and using your abilities to help others, putting aside pride and giving selfless service. I had no free hands but he certainly had one free and very capable one. Makes me think what more can I, and should I do with mine.

what a way to start the day

sarah woke up this morning at 6:15am, just after owen left for work and i was NOT ready to be up yet. i hear sarah knocking at her door (that means let me out!) so thinking quick i jump out of bed and go get her before she wakes up cecily. i put sarah in bed with me and tell her its still time for "nigh nights" she knows what thats means and lays down with me. after about 4 minutes of lying still which is super long for her, i hear a little tiny whisper..."cook-ie". and then a little louder but still a whipser..."cook-ie". and then she shouts at the top of her lungs "COOKIE!" trying not to laugh and encourage her i tell her i don't have a cookie and its time for nigh nights. so she settles back down and lies still for another 2 minutes. i'm dozing but still aware that she's now starting to wiggle her way under the covers. i'm almost fully asleep when i feel a very tiny and very cold finger poke my belly button! that was it, we got up, and what a way to start the day! i just had to laugh.

Happy Halloween!

We had a great time tonight at the ward "truck or treat". Sarah really got the hang of things quick once she realized she was getting CANDY (which she is not allowed at home by me!) She couldn't figure out how to say trick or treat, so she said please and thank you instead and then would wave bye bye, super cute! So many people commented how cute Cecily looked, her chubby cheeks really filled out her costume.

AND...my chili entry in our multi-ward chili cook off won first place!!! The recipe is at the bottom of this post for anyone who wants to try it. Super easy and SUPER yummy!!

My sweet Cecily today was such an angel with all the Halloween errands and preparations. She is such a sweetheart!

The Williamson's first truck or treat

Witchy Poo!

I don't think I've mentioned it before by Cecily is totally a thumb sucker!!! This was her by the end of the night, she just wanted her thumb! So cute!

Sarah taking full enjoyment from the fact that MOM gave her a lollipop!

The girls did so well in their costumes, Sarah LOVES to dress up and Cecily is so mellow I could have put anything on her.

My award winning chili recipe!

2 cans tomato sauce
2 cans peeled and diced Italian stewed tomatoes
2 cups diced onion
1 pound bacon, diced
2 pounds sausage
3 pounds lean ground beef
1 (32 ounce) bottle hickory smoke barbeque sauce
1/2 cup chili powder
4 cans kidney beans, drained
2 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate, chopped OR 2 tbls unsweetend cocoa powder (you can't leave this out, it really makes it!!!)

Directions

1. In a large pot over medium heat, combine tomato sauce, tomatoes and half the onion.
2. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook bacon until slightly crisp. Drain and stir into the pot.
3. In the same skillet over medium heat, cook sausage until brown. Drain and stir into the pot.
4. In the same skillet over medium heat, cook the beef and the rest of the onion until the beef is brown. Drain and stir into the pot.
5. Stir the barbeque sauce and chili powder into the pot; taste and adjust seasonings. Stir in the kidney beans and chocolate and simmer until flavors are well blended, the longer the better! But at least an hour. Serve.

ENJOY!!! And HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Utah!

Our family trip to Utah!!

Well, it was actually a work trip for me and the whole family came! I was so happy to have everyone with me. We figure this is our last family outing like this for quite a while, Owen and I have to buckle down and get to work!

Owen got a job!! He is working out in Summerlin at William-Sonoma's business office. We've had a great time looking through the catalogs and thinking of fun ways to use the employee discount :)

Here are pictures of our trip. We had a great time, we're just glad we made it home before the snow started.

Sarah being a monkey in the car. We are SO thankful that our girls do so well in the car.

We stayed with our friends the Hill's and helped watch their kids while they were out of town. This is Patrick "sharing" his video games with Sarah. She loved it! She really thought she was playing too, she had no idea Patrick had unplugged her controller :)

Park City!
Owen, the girls and I went to Park City for Owen's birthday. We had a great day (and the BEST chocolate cake from Maggleby's). We went to our favorite place to get chili in bread bowls and walked around with the kids. It was really cold but we had so much fun visiting our favorite places in Park City.

Cove Fort!
This is our favorite stop on the Henderson-Provo drive. We always stop at the Subway here for food and take it over to the fort so we can get out of the car, eat and stretch our legs. We also did the tour this time to let Sarah run around a bit. Which was exactly what she did! The little old missionary couples just laughed and commented how much energy she had! You're telling me!!!

Sarah rolled around on the grass in the middle of the fort like a little dog while Owen, Cecily and I actually toured the fort. She loved it though. A great place to stop and get out.

We had a really fun time together as a family, had a lovely day on Owen's birthday and I did manage to get a lot of work done. A very successful trip. I'm just bummed that next time I go up we all can't go together. I'm so thankful Owen has such a great job and my job is SO flexible, we are a truly blessed family!

10 more years!!!

Owen got his permanent residency card in the mail last week! Just one more step done in the immigration process. His residency has now been extended for 10 more years. But, in September (11th, to be exact) of next year he will be applying for citizenship. I really do enjoy living in this country and have a huge appreciation, love and respect for Owen's home country but I am so thankful he wants to stay here to raise our family, gain education and take every opportunity this country has to offer. Scotland is too cold for this California girl :) But most importantly, we know this is where we need to be. Not in Vegas, and who knows where we'll end up but the Williamsons have a lot of great things to do!

Brad and Pam

This is my baby brother Bradley and his girlfriend Pam. They came to visit us a few weeks ago and had a great time. They really enjoyed the girls and as you can see they loved them too! Sarah is in a "dress up" phase and HAD to try on all her dress up for Brad and Pam.

Pam getting bombarded by the girls...don't think she minded too much :)


Love you guys! Come back and see us soon!

Sleeping Arrangements

So I realized today that I never blogged about Sarah's new sleeping situation...for those who want the update...

It all started about a month ago...

We wake up one morning to the sound of Sarah knocking at her door. This is an unusual morning sound. Then we put it all together...Sarah has climbed out of her crib! And that was that, she wouldn't stay in it again. We tried and tried but she could climb out of anything, pack n' play, port-a-crib, etc. So we gave in and taught her how to sleep in her "big girl" bed.

It was a huge struggle at first (thanks for your advise Lauren!) but after about a weeks worth of sleeping on the floor, she figured things out. Timing is actually really good for us, Cecily has almost outgrown her baby bassinet and we need to figure out where to put her next, taking her safety into consideration...Sarah loves her to pieces but we don't want Cecily to end up in pieces because Sarah has crawled in bed with her! So we're going to work on that, and find a place to put Cecily...it may be the hallway for a while.

Before Owen and I finally go to bed, Owen peeks at Sarah for one final bed check. He usually reports back that her legs were dangling over the side, so he picks her up, holds her and rocks her for a minute and then tucks her in...I think this is just one of the many sweet and tender ways Owen shows his love for Sarah, so cute.

Sarah is also frequenting her "potty". She'll go in it a few times a week, and usually always when I ask her. I just need to get better about asking her more throughout the day so she'll really catch on. I'm thinking I'll get her some pull up diapers to make things easier, problem is they don't make them in her size, she and Cecily are in the same size diaper, Sarah is just bitty! It does make packing the diaper bag really nice!

Here are some new pictures of the girls...

Thanks for the super cute sweaters Grammy Carolyn! We love them, shopping at H&M and YOU! (We'll have videos of the singing goat as soon as we figure out how to get in on my laptop!)

4 months old

Cecily is 4 months old now and is the sweetest little girl! We are so thankful that she is a part of our family. She gives us the best smiles and is almost always a very happy baby.
Occasionally she has what we call a "redhead fit" when she just can't wait any longer and loses patience with us, but it just makes us smile because she is normally such a sweet natured baby.

Cecily is...
-working on rice cereal, she doesn't really like it but we're practicing
-sleeping like a champ
-wearing size 3 diapers!! She's SO tall, amazon girl!
-talking and laughing, especially around Sarah
-playing with toys
-playing in the bath
-going to be a pumpkin for Halloween!! We tried on her costume the other day and I just cracked up laughing!!! SO cute!

New Pictures

This is what happens when you give a toddle a lollipop in the car!

Our little fishy

The Williamson cheer squad

Cecily isn't so sure about the pool yet...

I LOVE that face!

Hola amigos! Mi llamo Sarah aka "chica loco"

Sarah and Cecily both at 3 months...the outfits certainly looks more "loved" on Cecily. It got washed a ton with Sarah!

Cecily sucking on her bottom lip!

A great smile from Sarah

Henderson!

We are here! We made it to Henderson, mostly in one piece. Things have been so crazy busy that I haven't had a chance to blog, so here is a brief catch up and there will be more to follow soon.

Here are the highlights of life thus far:

1. The girls did great in the car, Cecily slept and Sarah ate snacks the whole way.
2. Sarah loves my mom's dogs, but has had several time outs for being mean to them...tail pulling mostly.
3. Sarah can swim!!! She holds her breath and swims under the water which is so fun to watch yet totally scary at the same time. She loves to jump in, float on her back (with help) and blow bubbles.
4. Cecily is sleeping through the night now on Sarah's schedule, 8pm-8am...I consider myself a VERY blessed mommy.
5. Sarah goes to nursery!!! She loves, loves, loves it! Her first Sunday she took off and didn't look back. I think it was harder for me than her. She has so much fun and gets so excited after Sacrament when I tell her its time to go see her friends. She plays so well with the other kids and has so much fun with all the different toys...we don't have dinosaurs at our house :) There are 18 other kids in nursery with her which gives her tons of kids to play with.
6. I met up with Katie Gibbs and Sarah and Jack had a play date. They had fun in the back yard pool and Katie got to come back over later that night and she and I were subs for my mom's bunko group...Katie got out-bunkoed on the LAST hand otherwise she would have won!
7. My dad and stepmom came to town for a visit last week and had fun visiting with the girls. They took Owen and I out for a super fancy dinner and then to see LOVE at the Mirage. It was an amazing show and we would highly recommend it, in fact, I want to see it again. I love the Beatles!
8. Owen is now a business owner! He's working on hiring this week and things should be up and going here soon.
9. I am having fun here with Owen and the girls but need to buckle down now and get to work. I'm starting production on Little Shop of Horrors and will be up in Utah Sept. 5-8th to work.

I have tons of funny stories about the girls, I'll post later and once I find my camera again I'll have some new pictures!