T2 Update

Instead of breaking the year into Quarters like the business world, and since Three is the Magic Number, we here at the Williams Family Blog are going to break our year into Thirds.   You've already gotten the T1 Update of January through April, so lookie lookie, it all works out!

May
May was very busy and fun.  It began with Kim having a girl's getaway in Las Vegas.  While she was there I was the Homeschool teacher, and I think we all remember how that turned out.  Upon her return, we celebrated Drew's 6th Birthday with a Lord of the Rings theme, and, once again, Kim created a masterpiece of a cake.

May also saw Elliot celebrate his First Holy Communion!  He was so excited and we are so proud of him.  Gran and Pop Williams and Grandma and Grandpa Harvey came in to celebrate the special day with Elliot.

We closed out May with our first ever trip to Schlitterbahn Galveston.  We had so much fun and look forward to going back!

June
In June we tried to stay as cool as possible!  Evan recieved his rank of Scout in Boy Scouts and we spent many a day on the "dirt trails" playing and fishing.

July
We started July by volunteering for a flag route on the Fourth of July.  Evan, Elliot and Drew all woke up bright and early to put out 60+ flags around Mills Branch in Kingwood.  We picked them up that evening.  What a great day.

August
August was a very fun month for us, packed with many activities including Dylan's 3rd birthday and our first vacation in Texas Hill Country. 

For Dylan's birthday, we all gathered at Gran and Pop's and celebrated with a(nother) Dinosaur-themed party!  I can't recall how many dinosaur birthdays we've had throughout the years, but it has been quite a few.

At the end of August, I played music at a Fullness of Truth Conference in San Antonio.  We spent the weekend at the beautiful Hyatt Hill Country Resort, enjoying the grounds and taking in some solid Catholic teachings.

When it was over, we spent a day in San Antonio visiting the Alamo and the Riverwalk, and then a week in a farmhouse on over 60 acres in Johnson City, TX.  It was wonderful!  Oh, the views of that landscape and the quaint little towns.  Our farmhouse was right out of a picture book.  The look, feel and smell of that farmhouse brought me back to our old family Camp in Bundick Lake and it also reminded me of my Grandmother's house in Bull Shoals Arkansas.  There was a playhouse in the backyard that served as the boys' "home base" for their daily battles, and a bunk house that had a pool table.

Vacationing in Hill County is a big change for us, and we filled it with excursions to nearby attractions and just plain old decompressing under the large oak tree watching the boys play.  We spent one day walking around Fredericksburg and on the way back we took detour to pass through Luckenbach, Texas, and I was officially converted to the side who yearn to get back to the basics of life.  Jimmy Lee Jones was the leader of the picker's circle that day, and even though it was a bit early, he brought his guitar inside to get out of the heat and he played a few songs for us.  After he was done he looked at Evan and said, "Ok, now it's your turn," and when Evan said "OK", I think it took him by surprise!  He asked Evan if he played and if he needed a pick, but Evan had his own in his pocket.  Evan sat down and picked out the opening notes of Sweet Home Alabama, but not knowing the full song, he quickly switched gears to play a song that he knew all the way through.  So that day, in Luckenbach Texas, Evan played.....God of Thunder by KISS.  (I'm not sure, but I would think that is the first time that has ever been played in Luckenbach...)  It was a great experience, one I hope he never forgets.  I'd love to go back on the weekend, since that is the time the food vendors are there as well as the music.  It would have been great to eat lunch or dinner under the oaks while listening to some good tunes.

We also spent a day visiting Pedernales Falls State Park.  The water was low and hiking down to it wasn't a "walk in the park" (yuk, yuk) but once we got down to the river it was incredible.  The boys enjoyed trying to catch all the fish that would swim up and nibble on your toes.

On the way home we stopped in Austin and spent  a few hours swimming in Barton Springs, and we also stopped in Brenham and walked the antique shops in downtown and sat down to some Blue Bell at an ice cream parlor.  Breaking up the return trip made it much easier for the boys (and us!) and it also gave the trip a nice "Tour of Texas" feel.

With Labor Day wrapping up our Summer, came the beginning of the 2011-2012 School of Rock, and this year we have 3 students (Drew 1st, Elliot 3rd and Evan is a big time 6th grade middle schooler this year!!!)

So, that was our summer in a nutshell.  We are ready for this heat to go away and bring on the cool Fall weather and, Please God, some much needed rain.  Our prayers go out to all who are fighting the wild fires around the nation, and especially here in Texas.

God Bless You All!!
Love, the Williams Family

oh, and p.s.  - one more photo I'd like to share with ya'll:

"We're gonna need a bigger boat..."

You Should Have Been Here Yesterday

“Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day.” --Pink Floyd, Time

As I sit here waiting on the job to start, I’ve had a lot of time on my hands. Luckily I brought the copy of the old Camp Log book with me to read in the down time. It has really helped me keep my sanity these days away from my family. I just open the book and I’m transported in time to the Camp and all the good times we had there.

The Camp Log Book spans a time period from April 1984 to July 1994. In those 10 years we fished, threw washers and played many games of Moon, Yahtzee, Bourre, Gin, Crazy 8’s and just about any other card game you could think of; and nearly everyone bragged of being the Camp Champ at this or that. We even inaugurated the “Camp Olympics” one year to decide once and for all who the true camp champ was! Apparently the system was too complex, as it only was recorded one year.

This actually began as an exercise to count exactly how many times we went fishing with “No Luck” because it sure seemed like that was a majority of the time! In spite of countless reports of people tearing up the fish here and there, on this or that bait, it always seemed that we were skunked on the water. Also, I noticed how many times we set out trout lines and caught nothing on them. It seemed like the catch phrase for Bundick’s was, “you should have been here yesterday.”

So, with all of this time on my hands, I thought I’d sit down and count how many fish were caught, and by whom, so we’d see once and for all who the real Camp Champ was.

Now, before I get to all the details, I must make a few caveats:

1) Regarding trout lines: Sometimes a specific number of lines set out was given, but other times, the entry would read, “set out trout lines.” Rather than assume the full three lines were set, if it didn’t say three, I put it down as only two. Also, sometimes in an entry they would run the lines but not report how many fish were on it due to other circumstances (such as the wind blowing the boat into the line and tangling up all the poles, etc.) In this case, I counted that as not catching anything, because surely it would have been mentioned if they did!

2) Regarding individual fishing tallies: Many times, a log entry will imply many fish were caught and kept, but no number was given. Once an entry says that, “Mike and Ernest caught 11 bream.” Not being able to know how many each caught, I split the fish between them and gave Mike the extra. (You’re welcome!) Finally there is a missing entry, mysteriously enough, that chronicles when Dad, Uncle Jerry and myself absolutely tore the white perch up at the locks. Hmmm… Anyway, those numbers are not included in the tally (…can you see where I’m going with this??)

10 Years of Fishing on Bundick Lake:
Number of trout lines set: 41
Number of fish caught on trout lines: 41
Number of times trout lines had no fish: 9
Number of times we went fishing with “no luck”: 12
Total number of recorded fish caught on rod and reel: 111

Will the Real Camp Champ please stand up?!
Now for the interesting part! The following list will no doubt generate great debate and braggery alike for years to come. If a number of fish were attributed to a person in the log book, they made the list. Sometimes no numbers were given, but implied such as “they caught a mess of fish,” or, “Chad was Camp Champ in fishing…” In that case, no number was given, hence the plus sign….

The List:
#10 - Mike Stelly: 1
#9 - Grandma Denton: 1
#8 - Glenn: 4
#7 - Uncle Jerry: 4
#6 - Chad: 5+
#5 - Tina: 7
#4 - Ernest Tabor: 16+
#3 - Pop: 16+
#2 - Gina (are you ready for this?): 20
#1 - Mike: 33+

So, there you have it, Michael was the True Camp Champ in fishing from 1984 - 1994. Maybe we’ll make up a trophy!!

I think I’ll compile the Moon numbers next.  We'll see...

Stay tuned…..

Dear Evan, Elliot and Drew...(a love letter to my family)

Catching Up

Well, we've got some catching up to do to close out October 2009 and to ring in November (the most fabulous month of the year in my opinion - and it isn't just because of my birthday...)

The Vocations Chalice
We were honored to be the hosts for our Parish's Vocations Chalice for the week beginning on Priesthood Sunday.  I was amazed to read that the Chalice belonged to a LaSalette Missionary!  (The LaSalette Fathers have a special place in my heart, as I grew up attending LaSalette Parishes, and also since my Grandmother gave me the sermons and writings of Fr. Veillard, a LaSalette priest and former pastor of her parish years ago.  These sermons are over 100 years old, yet still speak to the heart today.)  Throughout the day we kept the Chalice on the Dining Room table and we prayed at mealtimes with the Chalice.  Then at night, I'd bring the Chalice up to the boys room and place it on the dresser between their beds and we'd pray for vocations along with our night time prayers.  The boys loved having "The Holy Grail" in their bedroom at night.  Drew and Elliot said that they slept "super good" having the Chalice in the room with them.

The Vocations Chalice, aka "The Holy Grail"

Hmmm, which one is going to be the Priest?

PumpkinFest
Every year since 1988, my parents have had a little shindig called PumpkinFest.  It had humble beginnings:  gather the family together one Saturday afternoon, carve pumpkins, roast hot dogs, tell ghost stories beside the fire,hang out and go on a hayride.  Judges - who remained anonymous until it was time to judge - would decide whose pumpkin was the best.  The creativity - and competition - was such that we had to expand to include categories for the pumpkins:  Freehand, Pattern, Decorated, Kids w/ no help, Kids pattern & Kids decorated.We did it again the next year and the next, and before we knew it we had a full blown family tradition.  The festivites and crowd grew, and it became one of those things that you look forward to even when it is months and months away.  I'd find myself in the Spring looking at something cool and saying to myself, "this would be a good pumpkin idea for PumpkinFest."

As the years passed, we started scaling back on the invitees, eventually settling in pretty much on immediate family and close friends.  It is still a blast and we can still count on some things that will never change such as the Pumpkin Egg Hunt, the Hayride, and my brother-in-law Glenn winning first place with his pumpkin regardless of what it is!

This year, PumpkinFest was in danger of being cancelled.  Pop had come down with fever the night before, so we opted to remain in Kingwood and not take the chance of passing it on to the kids.  The boys were downright bummed.  Halloween was on Saturday, so we made the decision that we'd have our very first PumpkinFest West on Halloween morning.  It was a simple affair with some tables for carving, some hot dogs for munching and some good friends to share it all with.  Everyone seemed to love it and the boys were so excited to have our very own PumpkinFest, that I foresee this as an annual affair.  I was really proud of the boys, especially Elliot and Drew.  Evan is pretty handy with carving tools, but this year, Elliot and Drew really wanted to be independent with their design and cutting/gutting of the pumpkin, so I let them do it alone.  The results are remarkable.  We had the three designs set up for the trick or treaters to vote on as they came to the house for Halloween.  Don't let the others know, but Elliot's pumpkin won by a landslide.

The first annual PumpkinFest West

Elliot hard at work

Drew concentrates

Evan's Masterpiece

Elliot's hard work pays off

Drew's is really good...and creepy when lit (see below)

Wow, look at those pumpkin-shines!

Later that night, we took to the neighborhood with Anakin Skywalker and two Ninjas to demand candy from our helpless neighbors.  No one can resist a Jedi Mind Trick, and even if they wanted to, they wouldn't dare cross a Jedi when his entourage includes two ninjas!  We had a borrowed Lion costume for Dylan, but he only wore it for the photo op.  The next morning, the boys had their candy laid out and there was some rudimentary trading going on.

You will give us all of your candy!

Roar!

All Saint's Morning

Beer Judging
Kim had gone to the store that morning and came back with a "pick your six" six pack of beers and we had a little beer judging going on.  They were all good for the most part.  The only negative came as result of Kim's Party Foul.

Leinenhugel's Fireside Nutbrown Ale - Thumbs Up!

Sam Adam's Boston Lager - Sideways thumb, uh oh!

Kim's Guinness meets an untimely end...definite thumbs down!

Shiner Cheer - Thumbs up with it's peachy flavor!

Saint Arnold's Christmas Ale - Thumbs up.

(Not shown: Kim had an old favorite, Dos Equis Special Lager, which of course is a big thumbs up in our house!)

...for old time's sake...ah, Florida...

Official PumpkinFest
The next weekend we went to Gran and Pop's house for the re-scheduled Official Pumpkin Fest, so we can now say that PumpkinFest celebrated it's 21st birthday!  Wow, that is so hard to believe!!  It was a little weird having it in November, but all the important elements were there, especially the family, and we had a blast.  On the Hayride, we are always saying that we need to come up with some "pumpkin carols" but we never do.  Back in High School, our Chemistry teacher, Mr. Andreyk, went all out for Halloween including a slew of Pumpkin Carols that were usually set to Christmas Carol melodies.  None of us remember any of them.  So this year, we made one up on the fly called the 12 Days of PumpkinFest.  We made it up by naming all those things that we love about PumpkinFest and sang it as the hayride wound throughout the nieghborhood.

So, without further adieu, I give you the 12 Days of PumpkinFest:
One set of pumpkin carving tools
Two pumpkin seeds
Three hot dogs
Four carving lessons
Five orange pumpkins
Six brownies
Seven miles of hayride
Eight pumpkin eggs
Nine marshmallows
Ten winning prizes
Eleven scarecrows
Twelve Glenn victories

Everyone is hard at it

Creativity abounds

Kim gets it just right

This pumpkin is mine

My baby angel pumpkin darlin' doodle dandy

Drew's pumpkin had a scar like Anakin Skywalker

Another pumpkin egg bites the dust.

The hayride

Evan leads the way

Gran's birthday was October 16th, Kim's Mom's birthday was on October 30th, and mine was November 8th, so we took the time for some birthday celebrations before heading home.

Elliot drawing in the dirt at Grandma and Grandpa's house

Pioneer Day
Saturday November 14th was Pioneer Day at Jesse Jones Park in Humble, so we went there and had a great time seeing how it was way back when.  We missed out last year, so it was nice to get back and check it out. This time, Evan and Elliot both showed off their master skills with the bow and arrow.  Up first, Elliot with his third try shot an arrow through a ring earning himself a handsome Large Red Feather.  Not to be outdone, Evan on his second shot, not only shot his arrow through the ring, but also nailed a turkey!  His prize was to keep the turkey to show off to all his friends and family.

Uh oh, a house divided!  This is a new take...

...on a classic photo.  Oh my, how I love, Love, LOVE this picture!!

Led Zeppelin wasn't available, so they brought in the Fretted Friends

Evan shoots

And Scores!!

Ah, to the victor goes the spoils!

Nice shot!

Elliot's Red Feather

Drew got a blue feather just for being so awesome!

Life is good ya'll!!

Love,

Chad, Kim and the Boys