Gracie and Ben meet new cousin Chase

Uncle Jason with Chase in the Hospital........

Gracie could not get enough of Chase..She just kept saying how soft he was and that she wanted to bring him home with us.
Chase..
Beaming Cousin Gracie holding Chase with big brother Nolan watching over them..

Chase Andrew Williams has Arrived!

Friday Night at 10:30 pm Chase Andrew Williams arrived..5lbs 8ozs and 18 inches long..He was a bit stubborn about coming out forcing Heather to push for 4hrs and then had to be delivered via c-section~He is quite the snugglebug now. Heather and Chase are both doing great and Big Brother Nolan is anxious to meet his baby brother (H1N1 scare prohibits anyone under the age of 15 from entering the hospital!)

Chase Andrew... Heather came outside to see Nolan after 2 days without him...Grace and Ben were so happy to see Aunt Heather..they can't wait to meet their new cousin Chase!

Halloween Night 2009

So, Halloween around here was busy. However for our crew(our kids and The McKinzie's) it was cold and they weren't that into it. I think walking the campground the weekend before did them in. We ventured to our friends' house for Chili and then were off..Ben made it a block and was ready to hand out the candy(still fighting croup and flu)..the rest of the group only made it one more street and they were back to help hand out candy, watch Dad and Dan scare everyone and drink hot chocolate. We had a house full and loved it! Andrew and Heather and the Bingham Family even joined the fun! This was the first year Taylor got to go it alone with her friends and they cleaned house...We had enough candy for 10 halloweens!!..Luckily, Dad's co-workers are now enjoying it.

The neighborhood gang..Gracie, Danielle, Emily, Jonah, Luke, William, Nicholas, Emma and Ross..Ben wouldn't get in the pic. Taylor and her good friend (and neighbor )Madi....

growing up way tooo fast.

Me with my girls..

Grace and Tay..

Taylor our 80's girl...trick or treating with friends only... got tons of candy!Doug Vader made a surprise appearance!
Arizona Robbins from Grey's assisting Darth with his communications..Duh we were taking a picture not a video...Good Stuff.

Halloweekend 2009 Raccoon Lake State Park

We ventured Out to Racoon State Park over Fall Break. Our friends do this every year and at the end it seemed everybody knew everybody..It was a long weekend filled with good and bad weather, cornhole, bonfires, Pumpkin carving, facepainting, crafts, haunted houses, trick or treating(mom and the girls as Grey's anatomy, Gray as Darth, Ben Storm Trooper and Tay our 80's girl), a halloween egg hunt, the flu(Grace at the beginning, Ben/Nikki at the end),Raccoons!, beautiful fall colors and leaves, good friends, music, food and adult beverages. We all had a great time and look forward to next year.

Trick or Treat...

Just a few photographs to share of the kids that fill my days and make them fun! Also, Ben's school Halloween party. We love Halloween around here!

Tay, Paige, Abby(I babysit these adorable sisters) and Grace ready to get some candy.....
Nathan, Ben and Nolan ready for their school party.. Ben decided to be Darth Vader for his school party..

Ben and his shadow Cole..

Lane in his festive Halloween shirt..He wouldn't take a picture with the others or put down his blueberry muffin...

Jonah, Ben, Abby, Gracie, Shelby and Cole ready for Halloween! The big kids went to school and Cole, Lane and I ran some errands..he wore the mask everywhere! Awesome. Caring for kids there is never a dull moment.!

Lane lines his cars up perfectly (ocd) and Gracie just loves to move them ..cousin love..

Lane hoarding his cars so no one touches them..Ben used to have a little set of tractors that he did the exact same thing with...maybe it's a Williams trait..

2009 Indianapolis ZooBoo..

Headed out to visit the animals and do some fun activities at the Indianapolis ZooBoo.
Darth Vader Gracie, SWAT Man Nolan, Storm Trooper Ben..anxious to get inside the Zoo.

StormTrooper Ben..

Dad helping make gliders and time capsules in the Lowe's do-it-yourself tent..

Nolan getting a closer look at the always entertaining Monkeys.

Petting the sharks...the highlight of every Zoo trip.

Nolan and his headless friend...

Darth Vader, Storm Trooper, Tay and Me.
Gracie said last year she wanted to be Darth Vader..it stuck and Grandma and Grandpa M found her this awesome helmet..

The Round-Go-Merry...twice the fun b/c it was going in reverse!

New family members...

So, Aunt Marcia started the fish frenzy at the carnival...We had packed our tank away but, decided to get it back out of storage since we had the fish..Well, before we could get the fish in the tank they had to be flushed to the fish hospital...
Grandma and Grandpa M. to the rescue..they showed up at the door with 5 new goldfish! They are all different in size and color and are always staring at us like they are starving to death! It's been 3 weeks and they are all going strong. Thanks so much to G and G M. for the new members of our brood and to Paps and Grandma Sandy for the everlasting tank.

5 new goldfish...all different colors and sizes...

Grandpa, Dad, Gracie and Ben getting things ready..Tay taking the pics :-) Mr. French, Peri, Miller,Harry and Rock

St. Malachy Hog Roast/Fall Festival...

You can't go wrong with a church fundraiser where there is good food/friends, a casino, games and rides and beer...

Here comes trouble...

Ben, Will and Gracie all smiles at the end of the SuperSlide..

Will, Ben and Gracie were no match for Jason on the Sizzler...
Gracie on the swings..She and Will loved all the rides...fearless...

My sweet second cousin Halle (Jenny's daughter) has been babysitting for the kids and they just love her..glad we ran into her for a few rides!
Gracie and Halle cheesing it up..Will lookin for his mom and Ben..the peacemaker...

Great Aunt Marcia wasn't letting anyone go home with out winning a fish...**Who were all flushed away to the fish hospital the next day...

NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) US Nationals 2009

Grandma and Grandpa Mendenhall got tickets to The US Nationals on Labor Day and invited the kids along...this was their first experience and I am positive they (Tay, Gray and Ben) had no idea what they were in for!
When Jason dropped them all off and one of the Top Fuelers began a run Ben looked at his dad like, WHAT was that?...

Whoa...That is cool....and very LOUD!

Daddy's daydream...

Snack time...how many times did those earplugs have to be "re-adjusted"?

Funny cars..lots of smoke

The kids had a great time... lasting about 3 hours (which is more than i had them in for) and are looking forward to next year...Taylor has even become an Ashley Force Fan!