Daddy Daycare...

Well, its that time of year again when Daddy gets to keep his little one at home while Miss Ami is on vacation. We plan to do something fun and exciting every day while still helping Mom out at her new store when we can. We will also be dropping and picking Lizzy up from Summer School and taking her to Cheerleading Practices and getting Kendall to and from his T-Ball Games and Practice, since that does not leave us much time to do anything too demanding - we will be spending our time at local parks again this year and doing some fishing when we can.

Today we spent about an hour fishing at the little pond in our subdivision and we caught about 10 Bass and one big Perch. Kendall really likes to go fishing with Dad, but does not like to put them back in the pond because they are too "Sluggy" (which I think means that they are too slimmy). We have a T-Ball Game tonight if it does not rain anymore, so we are going to take it somewhat easy the rest of the day...

Ball Season...

The summer is in full swing!

Lizzy is attending Summer School through the day and has Cheerleading Practice three days a week at GAGE. She has made a Competition Cheerleading Squad that will practice throughout the year and Competes throughout the midwest in the Fall and Winter. We are looking forward to seeing her compete in something she really enjoys.

Kendall has started T-Ball this year and is quite the little athlete. He has one game and one practice a week unless they have a rainout to make up the next week. The first game his coach put him on third base and he had numerous balls hit to him and decided that if the first baseman would not catch the ball, that he would just run it over to first and get the batter out (he did this three times in one inning). He hustles to the ball, in fact he was the first one to the ball from third base when the ball was hit to right field....? It is great fun watching them play and he is learning the fundamentals of where to throw when and how to run the bases - we have a new nickname for him and it is "The Defense."

We have a Name...

Puppy has a name!

"Princess Isabella"

But we call her Bella...

She has come a long way the first week of being in
her new home. Last week she had never done stairs,
and now she handles them like a pro. She likes Kendall's
Hot Wheels collection - she picks one up and carries

it around the house with her. She likes taking long walks

around the neighborhood and chasing Kendall all around

the house. If he stops or gets down on the floor they end up

rolling all over the place together and she likes to give him kisses.

All in all, we are all really enjoying her - we just have to get

used to puppy proofing the house because she chews on anything.

Family Addition

After lots and lots of consideration,
we've decided to grow our family again!

Lizzy and Kendall have been wanting someone
to play with for a long time, and the fish last year

did the trick for a while, but we finally broke down

and added another warm body to the household.

She is cute, playful and Black...

She is a 12 week old Yorkie-Poo that is a ball of joy.
The kids have not given her a name yet, but will
decide on a name in the next day or two.

More Snowy Fun!!!

Well, another substantial snow...

We had tickets to see the MonsterJam Tour
at Kemper Arena Saturday night and we were
afraid we were going to get snowed in while we
were there, but by the time we came out we had
about 4-6 inches of snow on the ground and it just
made for a slow trip home. Kendall had a great time
and liked the Black Stallion and Grave Digger

trucks but liked the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle

truck the best.

We received about 6-8 inches of snow total
and it was lots of fun playing in it this morning.
Kendall has been sick lately so we didn't get to go
sledding or anything this time, but I did take the
time to build a snowman and let the kids decorate
her while I shoveled the driveway (that doesn't
seem to be a fair trade) and they had a good time.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from
The Williams Family

The kids are ready for Christmas, they had a
chance to visit with Santa to tell him everything
they wanted this year. Kendall wants everything from
a Monster Truck to Dinosaurs and anything in between.

Lizzy really wants a puppy, but I don't think Mom and Dad
are quite ready for another pet right now... so, she has
decided that CD's, Clothes and Games would be better.

I am done with work for 2006 and I am looking forward
to a change of pace when I return in January. My job will
change from taking School Portraits to more groups and
sports for a while, then towards the beginning of March
we will start taking spring portraits until the end of the
school year when we will start Proms, Graduations and
Summer Sports Leagues until the end of June...

Happy Holidays!!!
Tim, Fonda, Lizzy and Kendall

Sledding Fun...

Our little daredevils talked me into taking them sledding
this morning while we had some good snow on the ground.
So we bundled them up and headed to the local sledding hill
at the Middle school where they both had a great time.

Kendall was like the Energizer Bunny...
He just kept going and going and going!

He was such a sport and kept climbing the hill for
more even when he would tumble down the hill.

Lizzy liked spinning around and around all the way
down the hill (she's a little dizzy most of the time anyway),
and going down head first until she took on a face full of snow.

Let it snow...

Well, we got our first good snow of
the season (is there really such a thing?).
I think we received just over 8 inches at our
house and they are reporting up to about
15 inches or so near Sedalia, Missouri.

Lizzy has been out of school Thursday and Friday
because of the weather, and both of the schools that
I have been scheduled to photograph these two days have
been cancelled too. This gave me the weather I wanted to
photograph our house with the Christmas Lights
all lit up. I hope to get out later today to take
some other scenics in the snow too.

Christmas in the Sky...

On the night before Thanksgiving,
Jackson County Parks and Recreation Department
had it's Annual Christmas in the Sky Fireworks Display
at Longview Lake. This is the kickoff to the Christmas Season.
Following the fireworks, they open the Festival of Lights around the
Longview Lake Campground and with the unbelievably warm weather,
the turn-out was crazy. We ended up parking along the road
and walking down towards the lake to view the fireworks.
We all had a good time and Kendall and Lizzy
really enjoyed the Fireworks.

Thursday we had Thanksgiving Dinner at our house
and enjoyed having the family together for the day.
Fonda and Ramona fixed an awesome feast and
we all spent the day around the house while the
kids enjoyed playing outside in the 60 degree weather.
Ramona and John left for the Chiefs game and
after it got dark we went back to the Festival of Lights
to view the Christmas Lighting Display - it was just
too busy Wednesday evening to fight all the extra traffic...

Friday, I got up early (2 a.m.) and went out on my
Annual Black Friday Shopping Spree. I ended up
getting what I had hoped for and made a
good start on the Christmas shopping list.

Happy Halloween!

Well, we've been a little busy the past few months...

I had hoped to keep this website updated
a little more often, but I have obviously not kept up!

Friday evening we were able to spend some
rare family time carving our pumpkins.
Kendall made the ghost and Lizzy made the Bat.

The kids all dressed up in their
Halloween Costumes!
Lizzy is Miss America and
Kendall is a Football Player.

First Concert...

We recently surprised Lizzy with tickets to
the Carrie Underwood Concert at the
Missouri State Fair for Friday Night...

It was so hard to keep this secret because we
have had the tickets for a couple of months
and didn't want to tell her until closer to time
so she didn't drive us crazy until the concert.

Well, we bought one extra ticket for her to
take a friend and since the concert was
scheduled on the second day of school,
we decided to take them out of school after
lunch and spend a few hours at the fair
before the concert. It was Hot, but Fun!

Fonda and Lizzy had made them cute
little shirts to wear and they were the
talk of the Fair that afternoon before the
concert. Everyone loved them!
After the Concert was over, Carrie came
out to the Souvenier Table and signed
numerous items for the fans...
Lizzy and her friend had their shirts
signed while they were wearing them,
and we also had her sign their concert
shirts that we bought at the booth.
To say the least, the girls were flying
on cloud nine the rest of the weekend!

It was very exciting to take the girls to
their first concert and it be an
experience that they will never forget!

Back to Work!

Well, it's that time of year again - school is back in session and that means I gotta go back to work... To tell you the truth, I am ready! I like the time off, but I can only find so much to do to keep me busy through the summer and then I am ready to go back to work.

First Day of Fourth Grade!

Lizzy started the Fourth Grade on Thursday and after a nice summer, I think she is ready to tackle another year too. We got to visit her Classroom and meet her Teacher last Wednesday evening and it looks like she should have another great school year. It does not feel like my little girl should be in the Fourth Grade! Before you know it she be headed to College!

Mini Golf

Watch out PGA, Kendall now likes golf too!

We took the kids out to Coolcrest last Sunday
evening and had a blast watching Kendall get
so excited about golfing. About every night
since then he has mentioned that he wants
to go back and golf some more. It was Hot,
but luckily most of the course that we decided
to golf was in the shade by early evening.

Lizzy and I finally got to spend a morning
at Powell Gardens taking pictures of
flowers a week ago last Friday. I let her use

my digital camera and we had a brief
photography class as we wandered the park.
She done an awesome job and learned alot too!
I think that the water lilies were her favorite.
Once we get a chance to edit them down some,

we are going to start her a scrapbook of her

flower photographs to show off some of her

work. We also want to get a few larger ones

printed to hang in her bedroom.

Vacation Photos

One day of our vacation we visited
the Deanna Rose Farmstead in
Overland Park. The kids love to feed
the animals and spend time in the
play area. This time we also took

the time to fish in the pond - that
was sure messy, but both kids caught
lots of perch and had a good time.
A fun, cheap afternoon of entertainment.

We also spent a some time feeding
carrots and apples to the Elk and Bison
near Missouri Town. Both of the kids
love animals of all kinds. It is pretty
cool to see them up close. We could
only get two of the Elk to come to the
fence and about a dozen of the
Bison came up at the end.

While at the Lake of the Ozarks,
Kendall caught this nice catfish
off of the dock. Both kids had been
catching some perch and then when
Kendall hooked this fish I could tell
it was a better fish. Besides us being

stopped by the Water Patrol
(Policeman Boat), it was his
highlight of the trip to the lake.

Lizzy got to drive John's Boat a
couple of times, there was no doubt
that was her favorite thing of the
whole trip. She couldn't quit smiling
when she was behind the steering
wheel on that big old lake.....

Back Online...

Well, it has been a few weeks since I have been

able to post any updates to our family site.

Our internet service was interrupted for almost two

weeks and since the service was repaired I have been

playing catch-up with as many photography issues as possible.

A few days before Fonda was to start her vacation we had our

air conditioner freeze up and the first repairman just thought it

was a slow leak and advised us that filling the freon would

probably get us by for a few years... Well, three days later it froze

up again. The next repairman took the time to find the leak and

gave us the bad news that it was going to have to be replaced.
Just the news you want to hear when planning a vacation???
After two and a half days of looking for a new unit in a house

without air, we found a unit that would replace what we had

and we were back in business. I don't know how people do it

without air conditioners in Missouri during the July heat and humidity.

During the last few days of her vacation we got the chance to spend a

few days at the Lake of the Ozarks with John, Ramona and Kaiya.
They brought their boat and we spent two full days on the water.
We all had a great time and it was very relaxing.

Well, Fonda has been working lots of overtime due to her

taking a week off and then it being the end of the month...

Just before she left for vacation her files were in the best condition

they have been in for a very long time. She lost all that

ground while she was gone on vacation.

Kendall is still wound-for-sound. He never stops!
We bought him a Razor Scooter a few weeks ago and he

rides that thing like the big boys. He has been riding it as we

take our walk around the sub-division and it is so cute.

Lizzy is gearing up for school, we have picked up all of her
school supplies for the Fourth Grade - yes, I said Fourth Grade.
It does not seem possible! She has had a pretty good summer

and we still hope to do a few more fun things before school starts.

Speaking of school starting, I have to go back to work after

having a whole month off. We had our annual Fall Training

last week in Sedalia and the next two weeks we will be calling

on schools to confirm our schedules and taking Staff Group Photos.

Then we have a couple of schools that do Enrollment Pictures and

the week of August 21st we will start shooting school photos every

weekday and Fall Football and Soccer leagues on Saturdays.

Fonda and I have photographed a few weddings the past

two weekends. It has been lots of fun, but it takes it out of you

when you haven't done them in a while. We have one more
wedding in a couple of weeks and I will start shooting High School

Football on Friday nights in September, I can't wait!

I will add some more photos in a few days...