Taking Memories Into The New Year - 2018

Wishing for all a very Happy New Year of 2018. I always look forward to the new years because it gives me an opportunity to reflect on the many blessings received in the past year and all of the anticipated sweet moments of a New Year.
This past year has been busy and challenging but filled with blessing. We have had miracles, powerful learning moments and joy-filled family times. We feel profoundly blessed by our loving Heavenly Father as we have deepened our faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement and felt His love for us through countless miracles in our missionary endeavors and everyday experiences.
We look forward to another great year of progress, loving, serving, and experiences more family time.
As I move forward into the new year, I do so with a feeling of joy. I want to choose to be happy and to learn and grow from my future life moments. Our Father In Heaven intends for us all to have Joy. May you all have a New Year filled with Joy.
The last two months of 2017 have been filled with many moments with family.
We were able to take a trip to Hawaii and meet our oldest daughter Christina, Brandon and their family. Here is a recap of our family times in November and December.

November 2017

In November we left for Spokane Washington to visit our youngest daughter Tiffani, Dave and their children, Michael, Sarah, Kaitlyn, and Williams. 

We celebrated my birthday while there. Wow, I am getting old. Being with their family was fun.

We were at the church waiting for our Grandson Michael to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood to the office of an Elder He is getting reading to serve a mission.

We went out to dinner with our children and Dave's parents and then to a movie. 

We took family photos of us all. Having a picture of Michael and us was fun.
We then drove back home having had a great time with their family.

 We had our oldest son Sean, Mary and their children; Gillian, Jackson, Joseph, Jonathan, Jeffery, and Josh down for Thanksgiving. We also had our Grandson Jacob, Dana and their two children, Sagan and Katalina. We had lots of yummy food, football, conversation and board games. It was an enjoyable Thanksgiving celebration.

We next had a delightful day with our Granddaughter, Justice and her friend Tyler. They came down to Utah from Idaho for a social function and stayed with us. We had lunch and a shopping time at Scheels. 

 December 2017

We attended a choir concert for our Granddaughter, Karli from Idaho. It was held at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. It was an excellent program. We are so proud of Karli for being in the choir.  

 We traveled down to Monroe, Utah to visit my sweet Aunt Alene. She turned 97 years old on December 11th. Spending some time with her was fun.

We were very blessed to have our Granddaughter, Sariah come for an overnight visit from Australia. She was on her way to the Mission Training Center in Provo for three weeks before going to her mission assignment in the Sacramento California Mission.
Our sweet daughter, Jenni, Michael and their children; Alyssa, Emma, and Benjamin just moved into our home, so it was fun for us to have them all here.
I took Sariah shopping for a little while and then we all went out to dinner to celebrate her mission and her birthday earlier in the month.

On December 13th my husband and I flew to Hawaii. We had a great flight there, and it was an exhilarating moment for us. We spent the first few days just exploring the beach and Waimea Valley. The landscape is lovely. The weather was iffy. We had rain and sun. We enjoyed all the moments regardless of the weather.
Our first day on the Beach was incredible.

A day at Waimea Valley. The vegetation and landscapes were spectacular. I loved the trees. We had lunch there, and the Peacock joined us. 

My favorite time was our being able to attend the Laie Hawaii Temple. The grounds and the inside of the temple were so lovely. We enjoyed doing a session there. The history of the temple can be found here.

While there we had a used Skype to tune in and see our Grandson, Austin received his mission call to the Omaha, Nebraska Mission. He leaves for the MTC on February 14th. We are thrilled for him. His Great Great Grandfather served there in 1896 as missionary and Mission Conference President. Our Grandson, Jackson served in this mission also.  We know that this calling was from the Lord.

Our daughter Christina, Brandon and their children; April, Abbey, Faith, and Levi arrived to join us in Hawaii. We left our hotel and moved over to a lovely home right on the beach. It was charming and the view terrific.

The 2nd day there we spent some time downtown in Honolulu shopping and dining.

 We spent a rained filled day at the Polynesian Center and had a fantastic time. The rain didn't stop the fun. We learned about the Islands different cultures. It was a tremendous adventure. It was fun to hear the stories, watch them do their various Polynesian dances and etc. We had an excellent dinner in the evening an then went to a Theather for the presentation of "The Circle of Life." It was spectacular.

 We had the emotional charge experience of visiting Pearl Harbor and a tour in Honolulu. It was a great day trip.
Our first stop was to the USS Arizona that was sunk by Japan on December 7th, 1941 with all the crew aboard. They are buried at the bottom of the ocean. The memorial to them was emotional and spiritual. There was 1,700 plus seaman lost. Averages ages 18-21 year olds. Looking at the list of names was overwhelming. The loss was profound. They gave their lives for our great country. I love the United States of America.

 We next visited the USS Missouri Battleship. We took a tour of the boat and learned so much. The history of this ship is so fascinating. You can find it here.
Take a moment and read the story of the Kasma attack against this ship. It is a story you won't forget. You can read it here.

On our Daughter Christina's birthday, we took a boat trip to go snorkeling. Roger and I didn't go snorkeling, but we enjoyed watching the kids and making a ton of photos. It was a commercial tour that took them out to two different places. Lunch was also provided. It was a beautiful day, and the weather was perfect.
Later on, our dear daughter went for a massage and then came home with a fever, and we started the flu cycle. She was too sick to even open her gifts. She was in bed until Christmas day.
 Our Christmas Eve was really lovely. We had dinner in and then went through the Nativity story and shared some excellent thoughts on that. We enjoyed the tree that our Son in law Brandon had gotten and decorated. We put or gifts out and watched a Christmas movie before retiring.
Christmas Day was just beautiful. We got up late, and our Chrissy was able to join us and felt good all day. We opened gifts and had a delightful Skype call with their daughter and our granddaughter Sariah at the MTC. It was a highlight for sure. Roger and I also had a precious moment of reading letters from each of our children telling us one of their favorite memories of Christmas through their growing up years.
The weather on Christmas was lovely, so we spent the afternoon on the beach, and my husband and I went Kayaking. It was a first for us.

The day after Christmas it rained most of the day. We packed, cleaned up the home we were in and left to find something to do before going to the airport. We had a delightful time on the Temple grounds and at the visitors center. We watched an incredible video of the Laie Hawaii Temple. 

There were some flood warnings in areas of the Island, so we decided to head to the airport early. 

We caught our flight around 10pm. The trip was smooth except that I started with severe flu symptoms and was sick for the entire flight. I was happy when we finally landed. 

Since then Roger got the flu too, and we have been recovering. As of tonight; New Year's Eve we have improved a lot. We have sincere gratitude for having the chance to make this trip and enjoy the beautiful island of Oahu. 

We have been able to enjoy some of the New Year Eve celebration with our daughter Jenni, Michael and their children; Alyssa, Emma, and Benjamin 

May you all have a fantastic New Years Day and a great year of 2018.
Love to you all!

Mele kailkimaka from Hawaii~

Mele Kalikimaka from Hawaii to all our wonderful friends and family.
I am on my I-pad so my photos won't post; I will just add them later. Hugs for all!
We have been enjoying the sometimes sunny skies of Hawaii. We have been creating some precious memories while here with our daughter Christina, Brandon and their children. We were very busy preparing to come here and are now enjoying a few activities on the beautiful island of Oahu.

Today I have been thinking a lot about what the Christmas Season really means to me. Because of His divine birth, life, example, His Atonement and His ultimate resurrection; I know that my Savior Jesus Christ lives. I want to be a follower of Jesus Christ, obey His commandments, keep my life in Harmony with His teachings and endure to the end that I might return to live with Him, my Eternal Companion, family and my Heavenly Parents.

As we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ during this Christmas Season remember that only through Him can we obtain Eternal Life which is God's greatest gift to us.

Through the years our family has had many Christmas Traditions but my favorite one is our Nativity Program each year. We have always had our children, then our grandchildren and now our great-grandchildren put on a program of the nativity. They dress the parts and we read the scriptural story of the Birth of our Savior Jesus Christ with music, songs and other performances.

Here is a photo of one of our programs with the two of our families in 2009. One of them is the family we are celebrating Christmas with here in Hawaii.

Here is one of my favorite Children's Christmas songs that our children and grandchildren have sung through the years.

Picture a stable in Judea.

Lyrics
1. Picture a stable in Judea.
Picture a sacred, silent night.
And can you hear
The angels near
And see the star so bright?
Picture the little baby Jesus.
Think of his life and words so dear.
Sing praise to him;
Remember him,
As you picture Christmas this year.
2. Picture the kind and gentle Joseph.
Picture the mother, Mary, fair.
And can you see
So rev’rently
The shepherds kneeling there?
Picture the little baby Jesus.
Think of his life and words so dear.
Sing praise to him;
Remember him,
As you picture Christmas this year.
Words and music: Patricia Kelsey Graham, b. 1940. © 1983 IRI
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas Celebration. May the light of our Savior's love shine brightly in your homes and hearts this Christmas season. Sending our loving Christmas thoughts your way!

Christmas Anticipation ~

Are you running to and fro doing your Christmas shopping and celebrating? Are we having fun yet? I am more like yikes; stressed out. I don't think that is the way it is supposed to be. We should just be basking away in the everyday moments of serving, loving and caring for others. I find the season to be exciting and fun but also a lot of work. We must slow down and just do the small and meaningful things to #lighttheworld 

We have the opportunity of going to Hawaii for Christmas this year. That is part of my stress; getting Christmas ready for the family here and packing to go there. We are thrilled to spend it with our daughter and her family from Australia. She is moving back to the states which makes us very happy. We will spend about 12 total days there. I know that it will seem very different from the traditional Christmases that I love. I like all the family get-togethers, parties, the nativity, the decorated tree, the beautifully wrapped gifts and etc. I love the giving of gifts to one another and enjoyable moments of service to others.   

With that being said, I love Christmas and I wanted to do a short Christmas post. 

Here is my Christmas Letter to all of my marvelous friend and family that read my blog. 

May you all know the love I have in my heart for each of you. 

The year of 2017 was a memorable one. We continued to serve in our full-time MLS mission and were released in September. We experienced two remarkable years.  We'll forever cherish our memories of that work. We met and taught so many families and individuals that we grew to love deeply. They will forever remain sweet friends. 

We look forward to returning to temple service in 2018. Prior to our release LeAnn received a call to serve as Stake Relief Society President. To say the least, she was shocked and humbled. So, busy days and nights continue. 

In March we received our 5^th Great Grandchild; a sweet little one named Katalina Williams born to our Grandson Jacob and his darling wife Dana Williams.

We celebrated our 50th Wedding Anniversary on June 13th. Our children planned a wonderful celebration for us with family and friends. All of our children were able to be there. It was a landmark moment in our lives. 

 We have blessed with  6 wonderful children and spouses, 32 Grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren. We have been greatly blessed in so many ways.

We’re especially grateful for all of our wonderful family and friends. May your homes and hearts be filled with the Savior’s light and love as you celebrate this Christmas season. Enjoy your moments together with family and friends. We invite you to reflect upon our Redeemer’s love for all.

Love, Roger and LeAnn Williams

“The same God that placed that star over Bethlehem gave equal attention in placing each of us here at this time and in these circumstances, to give light, life, and inspiration. May we illuminate our lives so that our light may not only lead others but warm them as well.”   Elder Neal a Maxwell

My next blog post will be some photos here and there from Christmas in Hawaii. 

Check out these links for some awesome thoughts and videos~

                            #sharethegift   #lighttheworldvideos  #asaviorisborn

Remember Light The World by giving for 25 days in 25 ways This Christmas Season. You can find the ideas here at #lighttheworld #lightheworld