3 Year-Old Cecily

Cecily is very small and petite. But, she likes to climb and play outdoors just like the big boys. She climbed right up this climbing rock at the park one day.

Here she is on Papa's lap, reading a story along with three of her interested siblings, and one who was interested in making a fun photo! We tried to spend some 'special' time with each of the children, and I built a castle with Cecily and colored with her. She is really into coloring and making 'notes and cards' for people, as well as horses....she loves horses.

One day we took Cecily and her sister out for a trip to an old church not far from home. The church was built pre-revolutionary days, and had an old cemetery attached. We looked at the stones and read the names, and Cecily was one chilly girl. When we got home, her mother asked her what she had done. She said she had seen a horse, and looked at 'rocks'. From the mouth of babes!

We went one evening to a favorite restaurant, and took some time hanging out on the porch after we filled up our tummies. Cecily decided to pose for my photo.

 One afternoon we girls had a tea party. Cecily got all dressed up in a pretty dress, and had tea and cookies. The aftermath was a very happy girl with a slightly chocolate face : )

Big brothers Sam and Will played the piano in a piano recital one evening in a local church. In taking photos afterwards, Cecily decided that she needed a bit of attention as well, so William happily obliged.

Easter Sunday with Papa and Grammy....in a pretty dress with a vintage pink hat and a nice white sweater for that cool and chilly wind. Doesn't she just look the epitome of springtime?

Starting with....Elijah

 

 I am finally back to our blog, and really appreciate Julie stepping in for me. We had a wonderful trip to see her and the whole family. I thought maybe I would share a couple of my favorite photos of each of the children, so that you can get to know them a little too. I decided to start with the youngest, Elijah. He turned one in January, and has been getting around for many months. He is an energetic bundle of toddler-hood. Above he is in Mama's arms with the rest of his siblings, as he greeted us on arriving.

 After arriving, I gave Julie her birthday present from JoAnn, a crocheted table runner. Here, Elijah is making off with said present!

 We did a lot of fun things while we were visiting, and one fine day went to a neighboring park. Elijah enjoyed the swings, and tried to play basketball with the BIG boys!

He is always looking for a bite to eat, and one of his favorite haunts is the kitchen counter. He is very photogenic with his great big eyes, and so we took a lot of pictures of him. Julie also has some great ones, so maybe she will add a few to these.



Below is the Easter photo of Elijah along with all the men in his family. Soon I'm sure he will get his blond curls cut off, so this may be the last of his rather precious babyhood photos.

It was fun to get to know this newest grandchild a bit better, and he even decided to give his Papa a wet kiss one day, in exchange for a bite of birthday cake.

There and Back Again

Mom and Dad made their visit to see me and my family in West Virginia and are safely returned home again.  Since we didn't end up getting any pictures up while they were here and things haven't gone just back to "normal" for Mom since being home (Granddaughter Macy is visiting for the week), I thought I'd better speak into the void and show off a few pictures from our special time together.

We were happy to get the updated picture of the two of us that you see above.  I don't see how I can be her daughter.  She's so beautiful!  I have a lot to live up to.

Date night, Chinese food.

I love this one!

Date night, Cold Stone Creamery for dessert.  Good food and fun.  I was really glad that we planned in that time with just the four of us.

And here's the whole group on Easter morning.  Are you wondering how they survived their 1 1/2 weeks with all of these munchkins?  I'll let Mom tell you about that and share the pictures of all that they did with the kids when she gets a chance.  It's so wonderful to be able to take pictures to remember these times and to be able to share our experiences and memories here on the blog. 

On why I LOVE family history and the heritage of family.

 All of my life it seems I have been interested in filling in my family tree, as well as that of the insurance man's family. For many years I have been particularly interested in his great-great grandfather, Elias Pitzer Williams and Elias's father, Thomas Williams. They both led fascinating lives, which included taming and farming the Black Swamp area of Ohio, journeying to Oregon on the Oregon Trail, becoming part of the Lost Wagon Train of 1853, and being some of the first settlers of Lane County. Thanks to a family of historians, we knew Thomas was of Welsh descent, but really nothing more. Family stories had it that he had three brothers, but in many years of research I was unable to uncover any more history.
Then, two weeks ago I had an astonishing break-through. Another Williams descendant, and fellow family history buff, discovered an article about Thomas' father and family, and posted it at Ancestry.com. This article was posted on the Cambria County, Pennsylvania website, and detailed the life of Rev. William Williams (1777-1848), a Welsh immigrant. Reverend Williams, and his wife Joned Rowland Williams, came to the United States in 1801 to pastor a Welsh Baptist Church in Beulah, Cambria County, PA. Rev. Williams was described in the article as being 5'7", about 170 lbs, with sandy hair and a heavy mustache. He and his wife had a total of eight children (the same number Julie will have a little later this year), and Thomas did indeed have three younger brothers. When the town of Beulah dwindled, Rev. Williams and his boys built a new log church building in the neighboring town of Bethel, where Rev. Williams continued to preach until his death in July of 1848. The church was called 'The Regular Baptist Church of Bethel', and both Rev. Williams and his wife are buried in the churchyard there. In one fell swoop, I had the entire history of Thomas' growing up years and family heritage.

 THOMAS DANIEL WILLIAMS

OCTOBER 10 1803-OCTOBER 18 1894

This same Williams family descendant (that I received my information from) had his grandfather die earlier this year. In going through his grandfather's things, he found and posted a new-to-me photo of Thomas D. Williams, a real treasure. You are looking at a truly remarkable man, who lived through amazing dangers and still lived to be 91 years old. His first born was Elias P. Williams, who later continued the family tradition, by helping to found the Dexter Baptist Church, just outside of Eugene, Oregon. Below is a photo of the church and congregation in 1909, and Elias is the one on the left, on his knees with a hat and long white beard.

The Williams family has continued on as Baptists, through Elias's son Joe Williams, his daughter Martha Louise Williams Brown, her daughter Bethel Brown Asmussen, and finally to her son (my insurance man) John Asmussen. What a heritage! Surely only the hand of God, and His mighty promises could have brought that to pass.

One more note of blessing. We are leaving tomorrow, for a visit with Julie, Peter, and all our wonderful grandchildren. In looking at a map, we discovered that the Bethel Baptist Church (still in use today) is only about an hour from where Julie lives. We have planned a day trip and a history lesson for the boys, to visit and take photos. In two weeks, I found another whole generation and history of the Williams family, and will get to visit the place of Thomas's birth and raising. What a wonder. The church is named Bethel, and is on Bethel Road. My mother-in-law is named Bethel....and has been a Baptist all her life. A coincidence? I don't think so.