Merry Christmas from The Williams
Life is good. Life is
challenging. I think we’ll survive.
Highlights and
Lowlights of this past year:
-I lost my Dad the end of March. So happy for him to be reunited with Mom but
sooo sad for us. We loved this funny,
entertaining and wonderful man. We had a
private graveside and my brother Gary and his wife Cher, Charlie (a family
friend) and David and I each threw a Wurther's in his grave along with a Skipbo
card. He and Mom played Skipbo each
morning to decide who was the boss for the day….
-Our annual Lake Powell trip was a great success-
which means we had a great time and no one got hurt (well, emergency room hurt).
A few were missing (“were” missing, not “went” missing) but the rest of us
played strong! Lake Powel is our happy
place.
-David and I were called on a service mission working
with what I call “our sideways boys.”
Troubled youth for a variety of reasons. After the shell-shock wore off,
I realized they aren’t much different than our own kids (well, a couple of our
kids-lol). We have found we can love
naughty boys! Quite a switch from
serving in the Draper Temple for the past 3 years.
-David didn’t break any bones team roping this year
(last year it was his rotator cuff). He
is going to Las Vegas in December to compete in the World Series Roping (Woot!
Woot!) Proud of him and his million
giant belt buckles. I like his roping a
little more since he has been splitting his winnings with me. Lol
- David does hard physical work on our property every
day. His biggest project after the sale
of the last of our trees on our front two acres was to till and plant pasture
and then to build a gabion fence. It has
been a hoot as, really, DOZENS of people stop to ask him what he is doing or to
tell him he’s doing a good job or if something is crooked or question why did
we not replant the trees? I’ve even had phone calls! Everyone has an opinion! I marvel at David’s physical abilities. I, on the other hand, excel at slug-ness.
-I did rip out my rotator cuff (nothing as exciting
as when I broke my back playing pickleball the year before)- and am currently
in week 4 of the dreaded sling. I
thought I was going to die many times- mainly of boredom. I also had my cataracts fixed in August and
now can see everything I’ve been missing and even found out I have a few
grandkids I didn’t know I had! (18
grands and 6 grand-doggies). My recovery
has been blessed by the multitudes of great family and friends who have
faithfully served David and I through my recovery. I will blame my new 10 pounds on them!
- We did have a
great trip to Guatemala in the spring for grandson Josh’s “last hurrah” (we had
several of those!) before leaving for his mission in Dallas Texas- Spanish
Speaking. He entered the Language
Training Center in Mexico City as a native speaker (hysterical)- and actually has had
a hard time adjusting to the “gringos.”
While in Guatemala, we were able to visit the library that Josh started
in a small village as his Eagle project.
Elijah is doing his project now of adding the adult section. While we were there, we also got to
participate in one of Ryan’s Humanitarian projects which is called 1st
Desk which provides jobs for countries and desks for school children. Ryan also made several trips to help when one
of Guatemala’s volcanoes blew the week after we came home. Ryan still serves as a Bishop in a Hispanic
ward. Thus, Josh’s confusion!
- 3 kiddos in college- Bri graduated and is teaching,
Connor is in his 3rd year in Juneau, Alaska and Parker his 2nd at
SUU in Cedar City.
- -We love seeing all our kiddos in various events
although they are way more active than we can keep up with. Boston’s baseball team won at Cooperstown, NY
during the summer which is every 12-year-old baseball boy’s dream. Annee Bug’s
horse drill team marched in formation in lots of parades this summer and
competitions taking State. We love
successes for Annee- who has the challenge of Asperger’s- and she finds her
greatest happiness on the back of a horse.
David cowboys up by not rolling his eyes when she paints Pokey’s hooves
with glitter! Other news- youngest kiddo
Summer mastered the potty! Yay! We have
soccer players and dancers and gymnasts and piano players and thespians and singers
and basketball players and debaters and march to their own drummers and
straight arrows. We love them all!
Life always has
those hard things thrown in as well.
With a few complications (but not as bad as last year) Parker had his
last surgery (after about a dozen) to correct the problems associated with
cleft palate at birth. He’s a handsome
dude that has had to endure hard stuff in his youth. He’s a survivor!
We love the Lord! He is the corner stone of our family and our
home. During this Christmas time, we
gratefully offer praise to Him who loves each of us individually and guides us
through the hard times with His grace.
May we each find time, one on one, in contemplation with our Savior,
during this Season and always to make our lives what He would have them be.
Marilyn and David
p.s. Not to brag or anything but I typed this
whole letter left-handed with one finger!
Brandi and
Doug- Bri Connor Parker Gracie Hallee Addi
Ryan & Marci-Josh Heidi Elijah
Noah
Travis & Tenille Rylee Boston Nash Sadie
Ben & Susie
Tanner
& Brooke-Annee Peyton Ryker and Summer- Whew!
