Girl's Week

Every year me and the gals get together (mother's, daughters, sisters, aunts, cousins, A.K.A anyone in the female line of business.) This year we learned to embroider and knit, and of course, try out some new recipes.


The weather was good enough to float one day. And tolerable for lounging by the river. One afternoon Jana taught us how to make hairbows.


Nola gave everyone frosted tips (that's a hair term mind you...younger folks know it as highlights), haircuts, perms, and scalp massages. Oh wait, I'm still waiting for that one.

Jana gave Grandma Great a makeover with a spikey hairdo and wild makeup.

And then the candid moments...


Ashley: "Mom, check out these buns of steel!"

It was a fun week for everybody that came.

Williams Family Reunion 2010

The last time the Wild Williams Clan was assembled together was for Grandma Kathryn's funeral. And the last organized reunion was held at the cabin in 2003. So it was about time we reunited and had a party! With a little motivation and small beginnings, Brittany took on the task of getting the family in one spot. Who knew there would be such a great turnout that prompted a full-blown celebration! We consider it a blessing that so many people were able to make it.

With 79 members in attendance, the family continues to grow and getting to know all the new additions can be a challenge. Trista designed the T-shirts and included all family members names on the back... 118 in total. Wowzers! I wonder if Otis and Kathryn had any idea when they married in 1937.


We had a good time enjoying the company amongst yummy food and fun activities. The games began and had all young and old racing to be named victor.







Following the games, a water fight broke out. I'm pretty sure Grandma Sam showed the grandkids who was boss.




And what reunion at the cabin would be complete without floating the river? Of course a major water war broke out complete with pirates and lasted the ENTIRE float trip. A lot of screaming, crying, and laughing was had by all - adults included. :) Drew got off the boat shivering and crying, "Did we win?"


Also distributed was the long awaited "Our Family Faith" book. Dixie started a year and a half ago collecting faith promoting stories from all family members that wanted to participate. She organized the experiences into book form for all to have as a family treasure. Shandy, Hope, and Pam were gracious enough to help out with design and printing and even included a priceless gift of Otis and Kathryn telling their life histories on CD.


And then of course a Williams tradition...the Virginia Reel with Garth at the organ. "Chicken in the bread pan picking out dough!!!"





Thanks everyone for the fun time! Until the next reunion...

Grandma Sam's Sixty!!!

What a wonderful excuse for the family to reunite! Must be some special lady to have ALLLLLLLLL of her kids and grandkids come for the celebration! We didn't know if we would pull it off considering life is in major upheaval for several of the family members, but for less than 24 hours, we basked in the presence of 25 relatives...offspring of Garth and Sam Williams.

The cousins had a good time playing together and creatively entertaining themselves. Here the older girls convinced their younger siblings to ride the whales across the cold river while they pulled them in pursuit of an obstacle course win. It was funny to watch as one by one, the younger siblings would fall into the frigid water and reconsider their decision to participate.


Trista put together a great Olympic themed party to kick off the birthday festivities. We enjoyed games and trivia before being entertained by the cousins who had secretly choreographed a dance presentation to one of grandma's favorite songs..."My Boyfriend's Back."


Drew is pumped up for the the football throw.


Here's the winning team of the tug-o-war...no thanks to Hallie who incurred rope burn early on. :)


After dinner, we had a more touching program with Grandma sharing something she loved about everyone and presenting them with a medal of honor, "Grandma's Gold."


And then she was surprised to receive a book of testimonies from all of her children and grandchildren and treasure the movie recap of her life put together by Trista. What better gifts to give. We love you Mom! Happy Birthday.

B&D Cabin Time

As our time together as a family draws to a close, we couldn't have asked for a better vacation! The weather has been ideal and the surroundings superb! We have taken it easy in the mornings so Jake can get in a good nap which gives us an excuse to lounge around and chill. Sad that we need an excuse! As long as the kids have been allowed to watch movies during our "not-doing-anything" time, they have tolerated hanging out.

And today more than ever, we needed a restful morning as our night was not! At 1:00 AM I heard the squirrel cries and knew we had caught another varmint. After about 15 minutes I started nudging Brandon to get up and move the trap. It had been set right outside our bedroom window, and me in light-sleeping stage could not get back to sleep. Well, Brandon was in his deep-sleeping stage (as is the case always) and has no recollection that I tried to wake him. I dozed in and out until 2:30 when I couldn't take it anymore. In my dreams, the animal was always making noise! I had even turned the thing into a mouse and we were going to keep him as a pet because the kids had learned that mice are the cleanest and require the least amount of care (even over a hamster.) That's when I had enough. In fact, the noise got so loud, I was convinced the squirrel had some friends out there who were trying to help him escape. This time I made sure Brandon got out of bed. I definitely was not about to go move the creature!

Well, there's a reason the squirrel was so loud and never ending. He wasn't a squirrel. He was lively night animal. This nasty little bugger had gotten into the trash and tore it apart before finding the trap. And then because he sleeps during the day, he could cry ALL NIGHT LONG!!! Brandon was a bit nervous moving him because raccoons don't usually travel solo. They are so creepy! And of course the raccoon was scared, but in the morning when the kids were checking him out, he took a very aggresive stance and GROWLED a nasty SNARL!!! I'm told I get to name him since he kept me awake, but I can't come up with anything good...although ROTTEN comes to mind.


This afternoon we went swimming over at Island Park Village. In the past, you have had to own a membership or be staying in a unit at IP village to use the pool. Apparently now you can pay a steep fee of $10 per head if you would like to use their facilities for one day, including the pool, gym, and tennis courts. Lucky for us we qualified for the family rate of $29.

The pool was a bit busy. Can you tell?


Of course the kids didn't mind. The more chaos the better.




On our way out, I got a picture with my boys.


Finally, we were treated to a Moose sighting! Corbin was across the road playing on the zip-line when he saw an animal coming up to the side of him about 20 yards away. The moose crossed the dirt road and passed by the cabin on his way to the river. I'm telling ya...our money was not well-spent at Yellowstone this year. :) --DIXIE

Fish Feeders

Today was a bit slower paced - thank goodness! (Fisher is having a hard time keeping up.) The weather was more overcast and perfect for hiking down to Coffee Pot Rapids, but maybe next year. :) I just didn't think I could hang.

Instead we opted for a shorter hike and visited Johnny Sack's cabin at Big Springs. I don't know that I've ever been there when the cabin has been open to the public. That trail was paved and less than a mile round trip! Our main intent for visiting Big Springs was to feed the fish.



In the past, we have taken old bread. But not anymore! We were tipped off to bring a secret weapon. NIGHT CRAWLERS! I couldn't stand to watch the boys stretch the worms apart until they broke. I know that's the way the "food" lasts longer, but EEEEWWWWW! And to think as a little girl, I did that myself.


We've added two more squirrels to the count. "Biter" because he thought for sure he could chew through the metal bars, and "Fasty" because he ran away super fast when the cage was opened. Notice the new system that has been configured to carry the squirrel cage.


The kids are accustomed to donning their helmets, running out the door, and waiting on the 4-wheeler when dad says, "Who wants to go with me?" If I could only figure out how to get that same response when I say, "I'm doing dishes, who wants to help me?"


The rest of the day we did laundry, movies, more Big Blue Island, canoes, played around at the park in IP Village, and the kids built an obstacle course. Pretty creative. --DIXIE

Animal Adventures

Who knew we would have better animal sightings around the cabin than at Yellowstone Park! The kids have been gun-ho about catching squirrels in the trap grandpa left. They have caught three so far. But we have a different way of disposing of the critters than grandpa. Our method does not involve the river. ☺


Brandon puts the kids on the 4-wheeler, someone holds the cage, and they drive deep into the forest and let them go. Each critter gets a name. So far we have had “Trapper,” “Princess,” and “Prince.” On the release of Prince, Drew was in charge of holding the cage. He fell asleep mid ride, let the cage slip, and the squirrel escaped. But the trip was not in vain. They came across a black bear. Brandon said he bear was about 20 yards from them when they first saw him. He stopped, the bear stopped, and everyone had a stare-down. Fortunately the bear ran the other way as Brandon had little hope of a quick get-away with three kids, Drew asleep on his lap, one hand holding the cage, and one hand steering. Brandon was nervous and the kids were scared, although they acted tough when they got back home.


We also caught a glimpse of a beaver, up close and personal. Sadly he was a dead beaver caught on some debris in the middle of the river. Disgusting!!! Brandon paddled the kids out to the beaver and dislodged him with his oar.


Corbin is not in focus, but this give you an idea of how BIG the critter was!


Audrey and Corbin think they are pretty hot stuff because we are teaching them to drive the 4-wheelers by themselves. Brandon took some short videos on his phone…

Here's Audrey driving


And then Corbin


We also went floating down the river from Bathtub. (Someone needs to enlighten me as to why this particular floating drop off is called "bathtub.") We didn’t dare take the camera on the canoe because with 6 1/2 people we were worried we would tip. After all, four were rowdy children who are not the best listeners or most obedient. But, we must have scared them enough about sinking that they behaved rather well. Audrey, Corbin, and Drew took turns swimming next to the canoe despite the cold water. That is, until we saw the water snake swimming next to our canoe. Then Audrey refused to get in. :) It was 80 degrees outside and no wind. Perfect for a float!!!


The kids also played on the Big Blue Island after Brandon got it patched up.


Jake mostly cruises around, dancing, eating sticks, and screaming because he’s not getting his way (a.k.a. harms way.)


This cute picture was taken about two minutes before he had his first tumble into the river. I was on the deck watching him maneuver his way on when he stepped on a slanted rock and fell right in the muddy water. He landed on his back but the poor fella must have banged his nose somehow because it was bleeding a little. Mostly he was scared and shocked by the cold water!

Tonight we built a fire and made s'mores. IP must be getting busier because the store shelves are getting a little bare. We were fortunate to buy the last box of graham crackers off the shelf at Robin’s Roost after checking the gas station with no luck.


Look at how cool the fire pit is with moose and Pine trees. --DIXIE

Yellowstone Park

Today was designated "park" day. And in these parts, everyone knows that "park" means Yellowstone. Apparently, our kids are not yet part of "everyone" because we had to explain there would be no slides, swings, or merry-go-rounds. Drew finally consented to go when he thought he might see a waterfall or some shooting water.


We headed to Old Faithful first, had some lunch, and then missed the "show" by a few minutes. So, with more time to burn, we took pictures and had some ice cream. Drew kept calling it the "Gooey Giser" from Dora the Explorer. And he would not leave until the "show" was completely over.


We were disappointed with the wildlife showing but managed to catch a couple Elk bedded down. No bears or buffalo this trip.


We took the Firehole Canyon Drive and I got chewed out by all the kids because I did not bring their swimsuits. I told them when getting everyone out the door for a big day trip was not such a hassle and I had children that helped, perhaps we would have swimsuits. They wanted to know what "hassle" meant. :) Really, I can hardly wait to come back when the kids are a bit older and can jumb off the rocks and float down the river and I'm not stressed the whole time about where they all are and are they alive, happy, and well. We did manage to stop and take off our shoes, wade around, and throw rocks. The river was pretty nice with the natural hot springs flowing into it.


On our way back through West Yellowstone, Brandon took the family to re-enact one of his childhood memories and traditions. We stopped at a local t-shirt store and let everyone pick out the Yellowstone design and t-shirt they wanted printed. (I'm convinced the store was off on their sizing. My shirt is a large and is still too small.) Haha! You'll have to zoom in to see the cute and odd selections. :) Jake's shirt says, "Duck, Duck, Moose."


And the trip to West would not be complete without eating at Pete's Pizza before heading back to the cabin. Yum! --DIXIE