Wednesday, July 22, 2009

This 'n That

Happy Birthday, Grandpa! Water fight!

Okay, my feet are bigger than your feet! Cousins, Amanda and Kylee...super Grands!
Happy Birthday! Lauri and Derrek
This is Dad looking at Dallon's blog......this was taken just after he gasped in shock at the double, backward flip off a rocky cliff into the ocean!
Lunch at Grandma's house for Kendyl and Alora. Notice the fine menu.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

4th of July, Lauri's House Style

This year Tami and family, Derrek and family, and Dad and I met at Lauri's house for the 4th of July. The Grands "swam" in the hot tub, we ate a lot, visited a lot, and watched some old super 8 movies that we had converted to DVD from about 1978 (Tami's birth) to 1982 (Dallon's birth). Gosh! We have such cute kids! The day ended with the traditional lawn chair set-up on the drive-way to watch the city fireworks over the neighbor's roof.
For about 20 years the Williams family always met in Well, Nevada, at Grandma Williams' house for the 4th. The earlier years we met at the city park and then we met in Grandma and Grandpa's back yard after they bought their house. One of the highlights was Grandma Williams' fried chicken. It was a great time for all of Rowland's family to get together and for the cousins to get to know each other. About 5 years ago we quit getting together in Wells, so we had to see had happened in BC over the 4th and start some new traditions.
Rachel swimming with a green alligator.

Alora...look how tall I am!Yum, yum, yuck! Madison
Yum-yum-yum, Tami
Grandpa entertaining Kendyl
Carter, mastering the art of reading while swimming!
Enjoying the fireworks!

Friday, July 17, 2009

4th of July 2009 - Gregg & Dayna Style

For the 4th of July this year, Dena and I booked us all a flight to Denver, CO to watch the Rockies play. We stayed with Dena's wonderful friend, Cami, at her house. Cami lives about 5 minutes from downtown Denver. She is awesome. Cami and her friends and neighbors had a great barbecue planned for us on Friday night. They grilled up some chicken and brats (that doesn't look right) and had a great spread of food. We were entertained well into the night!
On Saturday, Cami drove us to Golden, CO so we could take a tour of the Coors Brewing Factory. Since it was the 4th of July, the assembly line portion of the factory wasn't running, but it was still an awesome tour.


Here is Dena and Jim outside of Coors Stadium. The Rockies are their favorite Major League Baseball team. They have been following these guys for years. It was raining just before the game was supposed to begin, but it cleared up and was an outstanding night!
We went to the highest point in the stadium we had access to and took this picture. It was breathtaking. This was the first MLB game for all four of us. AWESOME!! There were 49,096 people in attendance for this game. We bought our tickets for $15.00 each. YES!! We got our tickets in the "obstructed fireworks" view section. We were down the third base line. Our seats were amazing.
Here are Gregg and I trying to take it all in!

This is Todd Helton, the first baseman. This is Dena and Jim's favorite player.

Since July 8th is our anniversary, we called this mini-vacation our anniversary present to each other. At the top of the third inning , I was looking around the stadium, and this popped up on the marquis. I was hootin' and hollerin'!! Gregg had called ahead and had this done for me! Soooooo Sweet~! They put this up at the top of every inning the remainder of the game!
This is just a shot of the game.

Since we were in the obstructed view of the fireworks, we made our way down closer to the field and found four empty seats. Why anybody would leave and miss these fireworks is beyond me! They were fantastic!
On Sunday morning, Cami told us she wanted to take us to this great place called Red Rock. She didn't care that it was raining. We were gonna go! Cami is an airline pilot and has traveled all around the world. She has more back-country stories and adventures than I could ever dream of. So, this "little" trek up the stairs was nothing for her. But, for Dena and I, we thought we were going to die! Keep in mind, this picture was taken at the half way mark. Once we got to the top, the rain stopped and it was an amazing view.
However, when it came time to come down the mountain, we decided to take the ramp. What an awesome trip! Memories forever!













June 2009 Happenings....

As those who know a thing or two about the Williams "blood", it is very important that we get our sleep. So, when that pesky sun peeps through the window, I (Dayna) always cover my eyes with my pillow. Well, Kendyl came into my room after she woke up and crawled into bed with me. After realizing I wasn't awake or ready to play, she did what any Williams descendent would do, and went back to sleep. Covering her eyes, of course, with my pillow. I woke up to this and had to snap a picture. She's a chip off the ol' block!
We also have Lagoon passes for the family this year. So you'll see random pics of Lagoon throughout the Summer, I'm sure. Here is one of Kendyl on the plane ride!

Dad summed up the Family Reunion we had celebrating Grandma and Grandpa's 100th Birthday. Just a few corrections, Elizabeth wasn't the only child of Dennis and Linda that was at the reunion, Loren was also there. And, Kendyl is spelled with a Y. But, other than that, Dad.....you did an excellent job of names and cousins and uncles and aunts and etc.....
This is Mom and her best friend from childhood, Colleen.

Everybody knows that Kendyl is a daddy's girl!

Here is a picture of Kappy, Dayna, Tami and Lauri.

Here is the family in front of a tree.
Dayna, Kendyl and Katelin.
This is Kendyl's whack at the pinata.



Jake, Richie and Madison enjoying the treats from the pinata. If my memory serves me correctly, I think Madison is the one who broke the pinata. Good Job!


After the reunion, Jordan, Madison, Taylor and Shelby came over for a slumber party. This is Jordan and Kylee splashing the bathing beauties with water. Jake spent the night with Richie at Tami's house.

This is what Kendyl looks like with a bottle of sunscreen in her hair and a popsicle. She is such a diva!











Wednesday, July 15, 2009

100th Birthday Party

On July 27, 2009, we had a Clayson Family Reunion to celebrate the 100th birthday of both of my parents. Afton B.Clayson was born June 15, 1909, and Emery C. Clayson was born August 24, 1909. Their four children's families were all represented. Anna Lee and Dale and three of their four children, plus their families attended. Dennis and Linda and two of their four children, were there. Arthur recently had an operation on his knee and wasn't able to come, but 5 of their 8 children and their families were able to come. We had 4 of their 5 children there (Dallon is in Hawaii) and all of their grandchildren were present. Families attending traveled from Iowa, California, Nevada, Washington and some of us live right here in Utah. What a great time we had! It was so much fun to see and visit with family that we have not seen in many years. The last time this many of the family got together was at Mom's funeral on New Years Eve of 1999. We figured Mom and Dad had 100 descendants on this 100th anniversary, and approximately 70 people were at the reunion. We visited a lot, had a pot luck lunch that everyone contributed to, and took a lot of photos. Each of the 4 siblings had prepared presentations to tell about their family. Dennis put together a tribute to Mom and Dad that included their history and details about the time and places they lived. It was all great!

Eleven of the 16 grandchildren. Back row: Rosalie Clayson Crites, Jane Clayson, Loren Clayson, Cheryl Egbert Wonnenberg, Lauri Williams Merrill, Derrek Williams, Tami Williams Watts. Front row: Alan Clayson, Calvin Clayson, Margie Egbert Tilley, Dayna Williams Hatch













Three of the 4 children of Emery and Afton Clayson: Susan Williams, Anna Lee Egbert and Dennis Clayson. Missing is Arthur Clayson.



















Three of the 4 children and their spouses: Rowland and Susan Williams, Anna Lee and Dale Egbert, Dennis and Linda Clayson. Missing is Arthur and Clydie Clayson




















Cousins, Cheryl Egbert Wonnenberg and Calvin Clayson















Dennis, contemplating the meaning of a family reunion


























Sister-in laws: Jane Clayson, Colleen Clayson (married to Calvin) and Karen Clayson (married to Jesse)














Susan and Rowland, and Anna Lee in the red stripped shirt














Gregg Hatch taking a nap with daughter, Kendyl; Margie Egbert Tilley, Anna Lee and Dale Egbert.












Lunch time for Cheryl Egbert Wonneberg, her husband, Mark, John Tilley, Gregg Hatch, Dayna Williams Hatch, Justin Tilley and Margie Egbert Tilley













Clifford Egbert with wife Dusty and son Flint, and Mark Wonnenberg














Rosalie Clayson and Rich Crites, with their children Emma, Caleb, Nathan and Aubrey