Words from the Williams

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Salt Lake City

At the end of April we made the 7 hour trek from Fort Collins to Salt Lake City, Utah. SLC is about 7 hours from our home (7 long hours through the very desolate state of Wyoming). Mark ran his 15th marathon (his goal--one marathon in each of the 50 states!) and as an extra bonus we got to visit friends (and former professors of mine) who just moved to Utah from Purdue--the Jensens. We arrived on Friday night and stayed at a hotel so Grace could get some swim time in.

The hotel was within walking distance of the start line so Mark got up bright and early to get to the start. Grace and I were able to walk a couple of blocks and catch Mark as he ran by right after the start. This was our view as we walked down to see him...gorgeous!

A quick family shot (notice how puffy I look--I started retaining water after the long car ride--boo!!!)

Grace and I headed back to the hotel for breakfast and then were able to catch Mark at a few different spots along the course. Grace loved handing him Twizzlers and Gatorade. She was very adamant that when she gets bigger she will run "with a yellow hat and mommy and daddy can give me Twizzlers to cheer me up during my run!" She loved every minute of watching Mark race--especially squealing when she would see him and running over to him for a hug and kiss.

Mark did a great job with his run, finishing in just over four and a half hours--Bravo, Mark!!!

After the race, we headed over to Robin and Jake's home. Their home has an amazing view of SLC. We were thoroughly impressed by the town--it's gorgeous! Everywhere you look there are mountains and it's also a very clean city. Jake and Robin were so hospitable--telling us all about their new city and even taking us up to see some of the great views just a few blocks from their home.

Grace the model

Photography by Grace

While we loved the city and loved visiting with Robin and Jake, the best part of the trip was seeing Grace and Jor (11 months) interact. She definitely liked showing off for him and he enjoyed being entertained by the "big kid"!

All around it was a fantastic weekend! A huge thank you to the Jensens for their hospitality--we hope a trip to Fort Collins is in your future so we can play host!

Monday, May 21, 2012

School Picture

Thursday, April 19, 2012

32 weeks

Today marks week 32 of pregnancy--that's right about 8 weeks to go! We had a great doctor's appointment today. Everything is measuring well, heartbeat is strong, we're right on track! We're slowly pulling things together. The crib is up, the changing table is put together, we're working on decorations. Two weekends ago we did a "sibling tour" of the hospital so Grace could see where she'll meet her little sister. It's a nice hospital and it was nice for all of us to know what to expect. Now it's just countdown time!!!

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Bunny

As we walked out of a store tonight, Grace stopped and screamed, "Bunny!" Girl has a good eye!

Back to the Farm!

We headed to the Farm for the first time this year. After a week of gorgeous days when we got there it started to sleet and was freezing. We didn't stay long but we did get to see a few of our favorites. There was a new calf, Olive. The ducks were out. And most importantly, Grace got to see Brownie, the pony. We'll be headed back soon so we can enjoy the Farm on a nicer day.

Grace was posing for a picture and Olive came over and nudged in her in the back...

Grace took off running!

"Hi Brownie! We've missed you!"

Easter

We had a fantastic Easter weekend! Easter has always been one of my favorite holidays with all of the little traditions. I knew I would be sad about not having family with us so we decided to host an "Easter Extravaganza" with some of our friends and colleagues. It was a great afternoon!