Congratulations Jake!

Last night was our friend Jake's high school graduation. We are so proud of him. He was Student Body President, so he gave the final speech. He did a great job! The entire ceremony was over in about an hour and a half, which seemed impressive because of the number of graduates. The ceremony was held outdoors and the weather was fantastic.

As we watched the ceremony, it was interesting seeing a current high school graduation and comparing it to my graduation many long years ago. This high school graduation had comments posted everywhere about not allowing noise makers during the ceremony. They had adults posted at the end of each row, as well as at the back and sides of the ceremony. They probably had over 50 adults posted around the kids. The school did not allow things to be written on the caps. It was almost like a military ceremony instead of a celebration. It wasn't "fun" at all. It didn't have an aspect of achievement, but instead felt like the kids were all on time-out. It was very strange.

There were kids who managed to buck the system by somehow smuggling in beach balls. Two got thrown up and promptly recaught during the ceremony. There were also families who broke the rules and used noise makers, car horns, and fireworks. I bet next year there is something in the program that mentions no noise makers, car horns or fireworks.

After the graduation, we were able to give Jake our congrats and then spend about an hour getting out of the parking lot to go home. The traffic was crazy!!! Overall, I think it was a great evening - mostly because we are proud of Jake and what he has been able to achieve. I hope Jake continues to demonstrate leadership and goes out into the world and shines.

Congratulations Jake!

Breast Cancer Three Day Walk Fundraiser

Last night was busy! Caden had riding lessons. Her horse ended up doing a huge jump and Caden landed on her neck. She was able to stop her and slide back into the saddle. But, it was an adventurous ride!

Then we headed up to TGI Friday's for a Breast Cancer Three-Day-Walk Fundraiser, put on by one of the teacher's at Caden's school. There were raffle tickets, face painting, free swimming lessons, fancy bartending competitions, and great food.

Because Caden and I wanted to support the cause, we had to get some face painting done, before Boyd and the rest of the gang showed up. So, Caden got a string of beautiful blue flowers down the side of her face. Then, she told me that I HAD to get my face painted, too. I told her to pick it out for me, thinking I would get something similar. Oh no, my wonderful daughter picked out Minney Mouse as my face painting choice. So, I had a huge bow on my forehead, huge red lips, and a black nose. I am pretty sure I was the only adult who was strong enough or strange enough to actually get my face painted. When I walked into the bar area with my face painted, I had a number of strange looks my way.

However, after I broke the ice, a couple adult men got up and had spiderwebs put on their faces. It was a really fun evening and the food was great!

Today is Caden's last day of school. She is sad and will miss her school friends and teacher.

Until next time...

Birthday Party!

Time is flying and we are still preparing for our departure, but we did decide to focus on Caden's double digit birthday party. We celebrated in style. There is nothing quite like a limo, sleep-over, fancy restaurant, and water slides to make a 10th birthday party complete. And we didn't do it just once, but twice (with a different set of friends).

We had a great time and made a lot of memories, but I don't think we will be as ambitious in the future. It is really hard to keep your eyes on that many 10 year olds in a water park!

Now, we are getting ready for a week-long camp! Wish us luck and pray for us!

Newbie Blogger

Wow, let's see if I can get this figured out! I decided to start a blog to keep everyone up-to-date on the Williams' family adventures. Typically, every day is an adventure in our family, but we have decided to push the envelope a little bit. There is nothing like small spaces to see if everyone gets along!

Our new adventure begins in July! We are squeezing our family into an RV and will be venturing out to experience life!

Why would we do something so strange and unpredictable? Because we can! Our circumstances have changed in the last few months and we have decided to take what could be considered a negative situation and make it a postive experience.

We will keep you posted on our travels and specifically the Williams' family adventures. Our first RV experience two years ago left us with no where to go but up! We have already experienced no brakes, hitting a deer, losing the awning, breaking a window, and having a purse stolen. We already got all the bad stuff out of the way - right???