December Cometh!

Dear ones,

We had a great week, and a blessed Thanksgiving. We hope you all had the same!

The week started out slow, but then picked up steam as it went on.

Early in the week, I found out that I got a part in the Stake Relief Society musical! Wahoo! I will be playing the part of the Narrator (two solos! O.o) in a musical about the parable of the Ten Virgins. The music is beautiful, and I'm excited to get started! We perform it in February at a stake Relief Society activity.

I'm thrilled for the chance to play the Narrator!

On Wednesday, Bonny and Dierdre went to the temple with some friends that just moved from our ward. I watched the family's younger kids while they went. The girls had a great time! 

Bonny and friend

Thursday was Thanksgiving, of course, and Daddy, Lliam, Bonny, Dierdre, and I had a good time cooking, baking, and getting ready. Dad tried a new way to cook the turkey, but we cooked another 20+ pounder, so it took longer than we had hoped. (Typical, right? LOL!)

Thanksgiving action shot!

Bonny and Dierdre did all the pies, Lliam did the potatoes, and Dad and I did the rest. It was yummy! We hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving celebration, too. :-)

Happy Birthday to our Didi!

Friday was our Dierdre's birthday! Can you believe she's 13?! She and Bonny spent a good part of the morning setting up Pinterest and Gmail accounts for her. (She's decided she doesn't want a Facebook account. Which works because we're on a FB fast, anyway.)

13 Candles

We also spent Friday putting up all the Christmas decorations. YAY!!! In fact, Daddy and I actually got a NEW TREE! I know, I know. It's a miracle! It's a 7 foot tall wonder that looks the closest to real we've ever had. (Daddy and I ventured out on Black Friday to get it half off.)

A new tree!

Saturday was full of service for the youth, first cleaning the church, and then helping the C--- family move. Lliam also had his trek reunion on Saturday night, so he actually got to spend some time with Mark!


Mark looks great. He is so excited to leave for the MTC in the middle of this month. Hong Kong won't know what hit it! ;-) I know he's going to be a great missionary! He even took this semester off from college! I wish he and Lliam could get together more.


Sunday was lovely. Lliam had a meeting for his new job early on Sunday morning before church. He starts work at The Dollar Tree TODAY! He is excited to have a regular, non-temporary job. He was given a new bike by Brother C--- when he helped them move this weekend, so between the bike and his longboard, he's all set!


The kids and I are in full Christmas-happy-mode, listening to lots of Christmas music. (Look for something special in the mail this week, Elder Keppner!!!) They're all begging to go Christmas shopping, and some even have their shopping for siblings all done. Christmas will be here before we know it! (Yikes-- I need to get busy!)

Happy baby!

We look forward to having Morgie home for Christmas. Her ticket is bought, and we're trying to figure out how to rearrange rooms. We're also excited to be able to Skype with our Elder on Christmas day!!!

HALLELUJAH!!!! And Happy December, y'all! We love you!!!

Love,
Mama Rachel

Welcome September!

Our Bonny is fourth from the right. (Photo courtesy of Ballet Etudes)

Hello to my sweet, precious missionaries!!!

This past week was pretty low key. Things are finally getting settled with our TJLA plans (We start classes on Sept. 12th.), and though we have yet to set up a workable schedule for our own family, it's coming. That's my goal for this week!!!

On Tuesday evening, we had a registration meeting for TJLA, and I think it went well. This whole summer I've been a basketcase about TJLA. I felt like everyone had jumped ship, and I had destroyed it all.

And yes, the majority of the families we had involved last year left. But, we had new families and some old ones, and each of our three scholar classes have more than ten students each! It really is going to happen! We will be having a Key of Liberty class, a Biology lab, and a Great English Literature class (Taught by me. YAY!). It's all coming together, and I feel a great deal of relief. Honestly, I'm so glad this is my last year in charge! I want to get back to mentoring, my real love.

Wednesday was full with all the busyness of mutual, scouts, and Activity Day, and this week will be the same. I'm still an Activity Day leader, and trying to breathe new life into it for me and these new girls. I have taken a break since Fiona was born, and we're starting up again this week.

Bonny had an audition of sorts at a new studio on Thursday. It's quite a drive for us (It's right by the Southern Estates area), but it sounds like they loved Bonny, and had a wonderful atmosphere and feeling. She is so excited! She's planning on trying out for the Nutcracker production this year-- at last!!! I am wary about the amount of rehearsals and driving, but we don't have Shakespeare this year, and I know it's her turn to do something that is just HERS.

This kids-growing-up-business is not fun for Mom, I'll tell you that!

On Friday, Lliam and Bonny went to work for a family in our old ward in the Burrow. (Though they've moved, too.)

They helped the family clean and paint in their parents home. The old folks have passed away, and the family is looking to update the house so they can rent it. They did a good job, and the H-- were pleased with what they did. Bonny and Gavin headed over there this morning to work some more.

Bonny also went babysitting that night from about 5pm to 8:30pm. She is working HARD to get to Europe! I am so, SOOO proud of her.

Saturday was my 40th Birthday.

OUCH.

I spent most of the day teaching people how to mentor Shakespeare. (10am to 4pm) It was fun! In fact, J--'s mom was there. Yes, SHE is mentoring Shakespeare for QuEST this Fall. LOL! I guess J-- comes home in January, and she will help direct their show this Spring.

Strange business, yes?

Saturday night, we had a lovely Italian dinner, and then yesterday we had my birthday cake. (Angel food cake with real whipped cream and raspberries. YUM!) Daddy got me the new Vocal Point album, and a costume drama movie called "Belle."

Here are the links for Morganne-- sorry Brennan! ;-) :

Vocal Point- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVA3iYJ_H5Y
Preview for "Belle"- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiI8PNdvkhY

Yesterday, Dierdre gave her FIRST talk in Sacrament meeting!!! She did an AWESOME job, and so many people stopped to tell me how impressed they were. She spoke on Repentance, and had wonderful scriptures, conference talks, and personal experiences to use. I did not help her one bit! It was all her! I was very glad that Lliam decided to come to church and support Didi.

The Spirit was sooo strong through all our meetings. It was a wonderful, wonderful Sabbath day!

And here we are on Monday morning. I have no idea whether Brennan will get this today-- Labor Day! Daddy gets to stay home from work, and everyone got to sleep in.

And I get to write my wonderful missionaries. :-)

I love you both so, so dearly. I am SOOO PROUD of you and all you are doing!!! You are setting a wonderful example for all your younger siblings. And I APPRECIATE that so much!!!!!!!!

Lots of love, hugs, kisses, and glowing proudness,
Mom

New Weekly Updates!

Pa and sweet Fiona

So...

A lightbulb recently went off in my brain, and I realized that when I write my weekly updates for my missionaries, that I should share them here as a way to journal and record the days of our lives.

Therefore, this will be my first weekly update for 2014! I am grateful that my missionaries are keeping me on track with recording our daily lives for future posterity, as well as for the here-and-now.

Looking forward to blogging regularity!

We had a good week, though we missed Lliam and Gavin while they were gone to Stake Encampment from Tuesday to Saturday.

The boys left first thing on Tuesday morning for a big, spirituality-based stake young men's Encampment. I guess they do it every four years in this stake, and it was a pretty big deal. They camped up near Pinetop, doing archery, chopping wood, making rafts, climbing walls, holding nightly devotionals, exploring caves, and eating, and eating, and EATING.

All the Young Men in our ward at Stake Encampment 2014.

They came home on Saturday afternoon COVERED in dirt-- I've never seen boys that dirty-- and little bit sunburned. Lliam was excited to announce that he placed 5th in the entire stake for the stick-pulling contest!!! :-) (Joseph Smith style!) That was very cool!

Bonny did a gorgeous job on Eyn's cake!

Earlier in the week, Bonny taught ballet, and also started back at Jeanne's Dance. The studio here was not meeting her needs, so she's going back to Jeanne's just for the summer. Then, in the Fall, she's hoping to start dancing at ---. We're trying to figure out some carpooling options with that, so we'll see how it goes.

Ronan spent the week as a fish, swimming almost every day at the neighbors. He's getting better and braver, and has been having lots of fun.

Davy likes water, too. His newest trick is to turn on the big garden tub in our bathroom and plug the drain. It scares me to DEATH! He came out of my room sputtering and soaked one day, and so I try to keep our bedroom door shut and locked as much as possible-- which is kind of hard when the baby is napping in her crib in our room, too! :-p Our Davy-boy's guardian angels are going to busy with that boy!!!

Davy-boy loves bath time!

Thursday was a first for me. I had a lovely (not) root canal on my owie tooth, and a new crown put on it. Does this mean I am officially old? Time will tell. I really like our new dentist, and they did all they could to take good care of me. I have lots of work that still needs done, but at least now I can eat foods I haven't been able to eat in ages. The girls were awesome babysitters for Fiona, which was hard, because I had to be gone a LONG time to get all the dental work done. But she survived, somehow!

Saturday morning, I sang at the W---'s funeral. Then, I got home and PA came to see us! Daddy and I took him out to dinner for father's Day, and he liked it a lot. We had a really nice visit! :-) Pa agrees with me that Fiona has quite a lot of Williams in her. He thinks she's beautiful, and joked about taking her home with him. :-)

Pa meeting Fiona for the first time!

Pa has spent the week staying at Ann and Dan's while he was getting poked, prodded, and tested to see if he can donate his kidney to Aunt Ann. He's hoping to know more after the doctors all meet together tomorrow. He wants to get it done and over with, but it may not be another month until the surgery can be done. He asked Lliam to come and be one of his caregivers when he's recovering, and Lliam wants to do it. I'm a little nervous about it, but I'm glad he wants to help Pa.

I can't believe how she's grown!

Saturday was also big because it was ERYN'S BIRTHDAY!!! She had a good day, I think, and Pa got to be there for the festivities. Granna made her a BEAUTIFUL Red Riding-Hood cape, Morganne gave her a sweet storybook, and she also got clothes, little people, and a miniature Snow White's cottage to play with. She and the girls have been playing non-stop ever since. I can't believe our Miss Eryn is really FOUR YEARS OLD!!! :'-(

Russell with tiny Fiona, just after her birth.

Yesterday was a very nice Father's Day for Daddy, I think. He didn't want much, but I think it was okay. He got a nap and we baked him a pastry I had bought from one of the B---' boys. They were selling them for a fundraiser, so I got one for Father's Day. We ended the day watching an episode of the Duggars and going to bed EARLY-- Daddy's favorite thing these days. (Going to bed early, not the Duggars. LOL!)

We love you, we miss you, and we are very pleased with the hard work our two missionaries are doing! We all remember you both in every family prayer. Keep up the good work, and remember that you BOTH are doing the work of bringing souls to Christ!

Thank you for the good you are doing, and for staying close to the Spirit as you serve the Lord in His VERY important work!

Lots of love and hugs,

Mama Rachel

Overdue Update

Baby #13 silhouette-- sucking on her fingers!

Facebook friends: Our family is currently on a Facebook Fast, so if you need me, email! My address is libermama at gmail dot com...

I'm not going to lie-- it's been a difficult month. Probably one of the hardest of my entire life. And I realized the other day that when everything isn't sunshine and roses, I have a hard time sharing here in blog-land all that's going on in reality.

Huh.

I think part of my problem has been the let down after a super-spiritual 2 weeks surrounding the temple open house, Cultural Celebration, and dedication.

It. Was. AWESOME.

And I've been to the temple since, and just want to pinch myself when I think that it's located just down the road. Soooo blessed!!!

So, I think I need to count my blessings, and focus on the positive, even though there will be some sad in this post, too. Life really isn't all happy days and good news, after all...

Dierdre's Music

Since the Fall semester started, our Didi has been taking ukulele lessons. She loves it, and she's GOOD! (Her teacher tells me so!)

So it seemed pretty serendipitous when the Cultural Celebration called for ukulele players to learn a song and audition to be in a special number for uke players.

She auditioned and was IN! She played her heart out in the pouring rain, surrounded by 300+ other youth uke players. She had a wonderful experience, and told me that when the prophet came to the performance, she started to cry, receiving a witness that he is truly a prophet. It was such a wonderful experience for her!

She's growing up way too fast!

With the suggestion of Dierdre's teacher, Russell and I decided that she needed a better instrument, and she picked out a powder blue soprano uke. She loves it! And it was fun to do something a little extra for our girl that does so much for our family, yet asks so little.

More Loss

Last Monday, my sweet mother called me in tears. It was unexpected so soon after Granny's death, but my cousin, who was only 35, was found dead in his home by his mother, my Aunt Ann. Having already lost a son many years ago, my aunt was devastated, and we were all stunned. After an autopsy, the cause of death was inconclusive, but suicide was definitely ruled out. That was comforting, but it still is an unexpected loss, and I will miss his sweet spirit, and kind heart. He was a gentle soul with a warm and wonderful sense of humor, and he has left a hole in our family, for sure.

Parenting Ain't for Wimps!

We have been working diligently of late to shore up the spiritual foundations in our home, doubling our scripture study, and working to make the Spirit more welcome in our home.

It has surprised me to find that, despite of our best efforts as parents, our children still have to come to Christ all by themselves. We can do everything right, and yet our children can still walk a perilous road.

Loving them, teaching them, and setting our best examples are truly all we can do. The rest is up to THEM.

But still we try, and pray, and work. I am just coming to realize that our best-laid plans are not enough. And so we continue to testify, support, smile, and PRAY. 

HARD.

But the battle is not over yet, and the war is far from being finished. I still have hope. And that's all I'm going to say about that, at present.

Miss Eryn, after applying marker-makeup

Fun Pictures

And now, for family history sake and for familial enjoyment, here are some pictures from our March 2014:

Our Gavin turned 14!

Little girl attack!!!

Our adorable Davy-boy at 17 months old

Grayse, Lliam, and Bonny just hanging out

Counting down to baby #13; I'm now 36 weeks along!

Love, Mama Rachel

Our Family 2013 Year in Review

Love, Mama Rachel

Twenty Years

There's no denying it.

Twenty years ago TODAY, a sweet girl came into my life and made me a mother for the first time.

And, no, that is no typo.

TWENTY. YEARS.

In the blink of an eternal eye, she went from this:

Age 2

To this:

Age 11

To this:

Age 19

SIGH.

After I have a good, long cry, this lady and I are going to lunch and a movie together.

Who knew twenty years could go by so very fast? And soon, she'll leave us again to serve in the Family History Center up in the Frozen North.

All these goodbyes are hard on a mother's heart! 

But at least I have her TODAY.

Love, Mama Rachel

Special Days

We have had such a wonderful fall and now winter is shaping up to be a time of making new and wonderful memories, as well. My heart is so full, and yet so light and joyful.

Another Birthday

Our Avalon just turned FIVE! It's fun to think back to when I blogged about being pregnant with her, and announced her birth here, as well. Oh, how time flies!

Even though she got a few fun toys for her birthday, her favorite present by far was a pair of hot pink sunglasses, complete with flashy rhinestones. That says loads about what kind of sassy miss she is! We are so glad to have such a fun and spunky girl in our family!

Once in a Lifetime

Tomorrow our Brennan gets to go to the temple for the very first time, where he will make important promises to Heavenly Father and learn more about God's plan for His children. It is such a special, sacred occasion for him and our whole family! 

Russell's parents flew down to be a part of it and of his mission talk this weekend, and it is such a great thing to have family here!!! I can't believe how fast it's all happening. Sometimes, I still see my boy like this:

And tomorrow, he will be a man, ready, worthy, and able to serve the Lord. Oh, God is good. What a wonderful plan of happiness He has for all of us!

She's Home! (Temporarily)

Our Morgie is home for the month of December, then she goes back up to Idaho to fulfill a call to work in the Family History Center. It has been so awesome to have her back! Now things feel "right" again. I have missed her gentle, sweet spirit, her willing heart, and her beautiful singing voice. (We've been harmonizing to Christmas music all day!) 

She's even been doing all the dishes. It's going to be hard to let her go back! (Just kidding, Morgie. Sorta.)

Feeling Excited

We also get to go see and hear our Lliam perform with the Millenial Choir Organization tomorrow evening. I'm so, SO proud of him! He has found something that is uplifting and excellent that he gets to be a part of, and even though he wasn't sure he'd like being in a choir, he now loves it and wants to keep singing with them next semester, as well! 

I am so grateful that he has found something so worthwhile to be excited about. He has blossomed so much these last few weeks, just to have the chance to perform with them. All FOUR concerts are sold out to a packed house, and we are thrilled to go and hear them. Hooray for the talented and inspiring people that the Lord has put in our path! Break a leg, Lliam! 

And I wish all my readers a wonderful weekend filled with happiness, hope, and joy!

Oh, and HAPPY CHRISTMAS!!!

Love, Mama Rachel

A Thanksgiving Birthday

Sweet Dierdre Marie at 7 months old

Twelve years ago, in a small-town hospital surrounded by a swirling blizzard, we welcomed a sweet blond angel to our family circle.

While I was sure we were expecting a baby boy (we wanted to be surprised!), Pa Williams kept telling me throughout my pregnancy that the baby that was coming was a girl. I never believed him! We had only a boy's name picked out, and I had washed only the baby boy clothes. It was so fun to call Granna and Pa on that wintry night and tell them that Pa had known it all along!

What a wonderful blessing she has always been to our family!

Now she is a beautiful twelve-year-old young lady!

Our Dierdre is so helpful and kind to all her younger siblings! She is always willing to do whatever is asked of her, and she is usually careful to include the little ones in her adventures. 

Dierdre loves to sew and has made her own pioneer bonnet, skirt, and apron in her weekly class that's part of our homeschool group. She's also started going through my mending box, which has been amazing! She is proving to be a great seamstress like many of the women that have come before her. (Too many to mention!)

In a silk gown from Granna, and a headband from Morganne.
(Thanks, you guys!)

Dierdre is great at doing her chores and keeps her room very clean. She is quiet and gentle, but can also be goofy and fun! She is thrilled to be entering the Young Women's program at church, and was tickled that the girls in her class gave our house a "Heart Attack" in honor of her birthday.

Just a few of the hearts from the "Heart Attack."

Twelve years ago, we were grateful that we were sent a new angel less than a week after Thanksgiving Day. And today, we are so thankful that she has grown into a lovely young lady that blesses us every day!

She liked getting new earrings and her own sewing supplies.
(Thanks for the earrings, Morganne!)

And now, for more Thanksgiving photos from our celebration yesterday:

Bonny setting and decorating the table

Lliam and Dad busy in the kitchen.
(Yes, we put bacon on our turkeys. YUM!)

Little girls waiting patiently for the prayer

My view at the table

Russell's view at the table (minus Davy in his chair)

I am so grateful for ALL the many blessings the Lord has given to me and to our family! We have so very much to be thankful for. I hope all my readers had a lovely Thanksgiving, too. 

Love, Mama Rachel

Davy's First Birthday

Happy Birthday, little buddy!

I can hardly believe that it was just over a year ago that I welcomed our fifth son and twelfth child into the world.

Davy is such a joy! He is a happy little guy who loves being a part of this big crowd of people. (Good thing, huh?) He smiles most of the time, and likes to hug and kiss and snuggle, even though he's such a busy toddler.

He had a fun birthday, but we had to rush to get him to open his presents and eat his cupcake before he drifted off to naptime.

He got a fun card with real money from Grandma (Thanks, Diana!), and an awesome Renaissance Halloween Costume from Granna and Morganne! (Thanks, ladies! Yes, we will post pictures after Halloween!)

One cute thing about Davy: He has never shown much interest in any movies we've watched, but one movie night, the kids were watching "The Man From Snowy River," and Davy was squealing and screaming on the part where the man rides the horse down the steep mountain. He about jumped out of Dierdre's arms! It was so adorable!

Oo! Oo! The horsies!!!

From then on, he has shown an interest in horses, so we were thrilled to find a sweet and simple stuffed pony for his birthday.

Davy and his new friend

And now, for our far-away family's viewing pleasure, we present two videos of our Davy being super-cute. The first one is on the night of his birthday, when he decided to put a fun "show" on for all of us. The second is of him giving up on eating his cupcake and saying "Night-night," instead.

Love, Mama Rachel

Excitement and Exhaustion

Excitement! (And Exhaustion.)

Yes, there's always a lot of excitement-- and yes, even exhaustion-- around here on a constant basis.

New House

In case I haven't mentioned it, we moved to a new house in the middle of June. It is quite literally a HUGE blessing. I have friends I've known for years who have lived in this neighborhood and in the same house plan, and I still pinch myself to think that OUR FAMILY gets to live in a home as big and beautiful as this one. It even has a BASEMENT, which is rare and hard to find here in AZ. (They dig pools, but not basements... It's a mystery I've never been able to understand about this place.)

It's a six bedroom, 3 bathroom home, complete with a food storage room, a BIG basement family room, and a garage. Our back yard is small, but with so much room inside, that hasn't been an issue. There's a park down the street, lots of tree-lined biking paths, and even a couple community pools. We already know several people in the ward who are part of our homeschool group, and we hold our weekly homeschool group classes in our new house, as well as in a few other friends' homes on the same block.

Yeah, we are sacrificing more money each month to live here, but I feel so blessed! We still really miss our friends and ward family in Chandler-- that still feels like our "real" home-- but we're settling in here and are enjoying the indoor space we now have.

Birthdays

July, August, and September are full of birthdays and craziness. We've had a bit of breathing room the last few weeks before our baby turns one in the middle of October. Now I can post some birthday pictures!

Brennan is now legal!

Ronan, in his new racecar-driver suit,
 made courtesy of Morganne and Granna

My handsome husband:
We celebrated our 21st anniversary in mid-August!

Lliam has been working out, and I think he likes his new weight set!

                                 

I am now in my last year before the big 4-0!
(Playing with a 1940's hair-do)

Our Bonny got one BIG present for her 15th birthday, and she loves it!

Excitement and Exhaustion

Last, but not least, I got a BIG surprise in August. I never thought I would have the blessing of bearing a dozen beautiful, healthy children, but now it seems I get to be blessed even more...

We are now expecting a new little one-- our number 13-- sometime near the end of April. My guess is that it's another little girl, but we shall see! 

I am humbled... and tired... and excited! What a blessing it is to be a Mother in Zion!!! I am amazed at how much love and trust the Lord has given me. I obviously still have MUCH more to learn! I will do my best to be the mother my Father in Heaven wants me to be.

But first, I will probably take a much-needed nap...

Love, Mama Rachel