Emmett's a teenager...yikes!!

Emmett turns 13 tomorrow, Sunday.

This is "Crazy Hair Day" at school and a pic

of him ready for the Scout Scuba Campout

Happy Birthday Buddy!!

Dear friends at Art Group.

Debi sets the most beautiful table.

The hotel is coming along.

All the way to the top - four stories.

Windows facing the view.

Labor Day is already here...yikes where did the summer go??

This Nathan, my 16 year old grandson, on his birthday. He has decided to be camera shy for the rest of his life. So check out this photo - it may be the last ever taken!!

Too bad, because he's pretty good lookin' !!

The is Raya and she just turned 5. She is the grand-daughter of Ray and Kathy.

She's also a pretty cute kid and not a bit camera shy.

Debi and Nancy drove all the way down to Ferndale so that we could have lunch together at Rose's Cafe which is full of cute little "shabby chic" stuff. Did you ever have one of these clothes pin holders? I did a little drawing of it in my sketch book.

This is Mike and his darling wife and little girl. Mike is Dennis's right hand man on the job. They live in Oregon. Cary had to go back home so that Abby could start school. They have been here all summer with Mike in their RV.

Here is the latest addition to the new hotel. This grill work goes all across the front of each bay opening in the parking structure under the actual hotel.

Sam Dancing....you go guy!!

At Sarah's camp all the kids performed nightly.

One night, Sam really got "into" the music

and was dancing at the back of the auditorium.

I got lucky and caught him rockin' out!

Back from Colorado and Sarah's Music Camp.

What a great experience to be able to visit Sarah's

"Music Camp". She has been attending for 9 years.

Most of those years, I would stay home with

Sam and Emma while Lecia would attend camp with Sarah.

But this year Sarah was in "teen" camp.

Lecia wasn't allowed to be at the camp with her.

So we all went together to Grand Rapids, MI. Sarah

got to go to canp by herself and the rest of us stayed

in Grand Haven, MI, about 1/2 an hour away.

These are the beautiful grounds and cabins of the camp.

These kids remember every detail about each other.

They are like wonderful old friends greeting and

hugging as they reunite.

There are fabulous counselors. Three counselors for

every five "Williams" kids.

This is Lecia with two of the other mothers.

Here is Sam and Emma helping to get Sarah's

cabin space and bed ready for the week.

Every day a couple of the couselors get to celebrate

by letting one of the kids "pie" them. Way fun!

Sarah loved her cabin and by the second night

didn't even want Lecia to stay and visit.

She felt very happy and safe at the camp.

Lecia, Sam, Emma and I stayed in the little

resort town of Grand Haven, which is located

on the shore of Lake Michigan.

Each morning, while Sam and Emma slept in,

Lecia and I walked down to the main street

and had a fresh slice of bread and then did

drawings of the quaint store fronts.

You can see me out on the street taking the

photo in the glass reflection.

Here is Lake Michigan....looks just like the Pacific

Ocean to me...the waves were amazing!!

Here's Lecia drawing again. We had such a great time!!

One day we rented bikes and road all around the town

and out on the pier.

This was an amazing experience for me, being able to allow

Sarah to attend her camp and sharing this time

with Lecia and the kids.

It's all about the music!!

So Den and I joined an exercise place. Since I

slipped a disc back in Feb. the great

doc I went to, insisted that exercise is the

only thing that's going to keep me out of

a wheel chair.

Being the supportive husband that he is,

Den offered to join and go with me!

Like HA!! He's gone once. And the only thing

that makes it fun for me is to use an MP3 player

and listen to music while I'm working-out on the

machines. Den said, maybe if I had an MP3 player

I would start going...Like HA! again.

Here he is, using his new MP3 player while

sitting in his chair watching TV. YIKES!!

He thinks he is multi-tasking by listening to his

player and singing, at the same time he is watching

the television!!

Art Day...Yeah!!

Debi came home from her fabulous Hawaiian

honeymoon happy, tan and rested. Way fun!!

We spent the morning painting.

This is from her watercolor sketches.

These next two are just me playing with the paints.

Sometimes it's fun to not have a plan.

A couple of photos of our Domino Group. We have such a good time - great friends!!

Den's hotel is tall enough to see from the Ferndale Bridge.

This shot is looking toward the hills from

the highway going down into Ferndale...

about 6 miles from the hotel site.

Brown Paper Sack Birthday Cards

I got this great idea to make greeting cards from

lunch sacks, when I was visiting Ronna.

Brooke and Lauren had made journals from

brown paper lunch bags and I just took

it a step further and started making

Birthday Cards. I used deckle edge

scissors to cut the bag apart and then

heart shaped brads to bind the pages together.

I printed out photos and added some

pre-cut flowers. Way fun!!

My first Granddaughter turned 20 on July 5th.

Happy Birthday to Rachel!!

Rachel came up with an idea for her Birthday Party.

She made some classy looking vases by spray painting

empty bottles with silver paint. Pretty cute!!

Still trying to do the 10 minute drawings.

This was a speaker at Church on Sunday.

I don't think I'm improving much...oh well, I'll

keep trying.

Lauren Graduates..Collin gets Mission Call..10 Min. Drawings

On June 1, 2011, Lauren graduated form

High School. I got to attend and visit with

the family for a few days. So fun to see

these girls, growing up and lovin' life!!

I still can't believe that all these years have gone by so quickly. But there are great adventures yet to come!! Lauren's two cousins, McCall and Emily... also graduated.

And I got to meet Collin!! Yeah what a great guy.

He plays the piano and is such a good sport.

He even watches sappy old movies....without too

much complaining...thanks! He just got his Mission

Call to Paraguay - WOW!! He'll leave Nov. 9th!

Wishing him every blessing and a safe Mission!

These drawings are awful and it's really hard for me to post them...

but my new goal is a Drawing a Day! Quick and easy.

My OCD demands that I trace and spend hours correcting,

like I did for 20 years when I worked as a graphic artist.

So now, I'm trying to let go and move quick, before my

last days are used up. I captured a little likeness and that

needs to be good enough for now.

Hopefully our little Art Group will

start up again in the fall and we can

all do 10 Minute Drawings.