The Gray Report

The BYU Botany Duck Pond is a new and popular venue We had a wonderful time in Colorado at the end of May and the beginning of June. Kassie's youngest sister, Rochelle, graduated from high school and we are glad we were able to be present for that assembly. Greg stayed for a few days and left on Memorial Day to return back to Utah so he could work. Kassie and Hinckley stayed and played for a couple weeks. Payson LDS Temple open house At the CO Springs Zoo We enjoyed some fun activities while we were in Colorado. We went to the zoo and Hinckley was able to pet giraffes and a lizard. We went to the arcade in Manitou Springs and Hinckley rode many little rides--his favorite being an ice cream truck he thought was a bus. We went to many parks and watched construction vehicles moving dirt and building things. We also went swimming a few times. One of Hinckley's favorite activities was roasting marshmallows. What isn't to love about a fire and a warm sticky, s...

Kassie worked her magic on my old brown dresser We've moved and are now just 6 minutes and 22 seconds from the McKay building on BYU campus (that is from our front door to the door of the building as timed by me - Greg). It is a lovely little condo with two rooms, two bathrooms, and even a little study area! It is lovely. See Hinckley giving a tour below.  In other news, I presented my business at 1 Million Cups Provo a week or two ago and it went really well! Folks were very receptive and encouraging and I am hoping to get some good projects this summer. We will see.  Hinckley has grown more cuddly/clingy since our move, perhaps he is struggling a bit with the newness. He still calls our place "new house!" and can recognize we are close when driving anywhere nearby. Little does he know that this is the smaller of the two big transitions to his little life this summer. Reading on his "poof" (created by Kas) Reading in the rocking ch...

Posing in the Easter gear The go-to pose during prayer time Picking his nose? No, taking time to smell the flowers.  The blossoms have come and are basically gone, and we are loving the beautiful spring weather! This month has been full of fun stuff. Flying kites, Big Hero 6 , listening to Serial .  We are excited about the news of our little girl coming in August, and Kas has begun setting some plans for making a blessing dress and some other baby girl items. We went and toured the Orem hospital to see if that is where we want the birth to happen. I think that was my first time in those doors since I arrived over 26 years ago.  Eggs!  Easter egg hunting with cousins Logan and Sadie Painting eggs with Mom Hinckley had his first Easter Egg hunting experience and really enjoyed it. He has also started started requesting "Sunbeam" and "Mission" - songs he is hearing in nursery. It is pretty cute when he says "Beam!" and so...

Spring has begun in Provo. I (Kassie) know it isn't official yet, but flowers are budding, birds are singing, and coats are off. We are so happy to be able to go on walks again. Hinckley enjoys seeing "gree-gas" (green grass). It really does seem like new life again and we have been enjoying it. The great shearing of 2015  The time finally came to cut of the golden locks. This was not Hinckley's first hair cut--that happened in October. But this one proved to be a lot harder. After I messed up, Greg thought he would help. Then we decided that the only way to solve the problem was with the clippers. We used the longest setting on the clippers, but Hinckley's hair still ended up much shorter than we wanted. Oh well! Hair grows back. Hinckley really didn't care what what happening because we let him watch TV and eat a lollipop...actually 2.5 lollipops. By the end, the most frustrating thing for Hinckley was all the hair stuck to his mouth, hands, and ...

February was full of events. Kassie and I both have birthdays leading up to Valentines day, and we also hosted Kassie's parents for a weekend in addition to going on a few little outings. Fire and Ice at the Riverwoods (not much ice, but lots of fire!) The big 2-6.  Acrobat in training February had a few cold spells, but nothing that would hint it was winter. So it seems there are benefits to global warming at least at this stage in the game. Hinckley's hair put up a mighty fight, causing us anxiety as to whether he can see straight! Tractor in the Provo Tundra GrandDad Burnside!  The Beet Cake wasn't as good as we'd hoped for Kassie's 27th B day The Naked Reader on his favorite pillow The Month zoomed by quicker than we could keep track. Nursery is only getting better for H, and we are hanging on with work and other things. I should have written this sooner because this is all I can recall from the entire month.

Merry February!  It seems like we always say this, but last month flew by. The first few weeks were dominated by sickness. All the people left after Christmas and New Years', but some little microscopic guests stayed to haunt us. January was a month of adjustment. Greg started a new semester. We are delighted that he doesn't have any evening classes this time! Hinckley went back to being the only child in the house. It was hard on him and he insisted on having someone to watch him play at all times. He still goes around the house saying, "Annie," "Cake," or "Oww." We've realized that these names are not always specific to specific cousins, but apply to all of them; sixteen cousins is a lot to remember when you are only 1.5. The best adjustment has definitely been nursery. Sundays have suddenly become a day of rest and tranquility again. Hinckley gets really excited by the idea of nursery, but when he actually gets there he has moments of s...

Can't believe it is over! (and January is now almost over too). We've done a bunch this past month, it is impossible to summarize it all, even a 100th part of it I can not write. But, here are some pictures and snippets of the Williams clan closing out 2014. We've scoured Utah Valley for free events and locations where Hinckley can have a good time. It is pretty difficult at this age, but the BYU Bean Museum is a jack pot. For one reason or another, Hinckley has taken a strong interest in alligators. He goes around saying "Allgee! algee!" and goes nuts when he sees one in a book. My parents have a plastic albino crocodile, which as you can imagine really gets H's attention. On this particular trip to the Bean museum we were surprised to see that the best thing at the museum according to a 17 month old is the christmas lights and Baby Jesus ("Jeeesis!" as H says). He loved the red balls as well, and didn't care much for anything else. Oh we...