We took off this morning for a quick trip to Snowflake and back for the annual Willis Family Reunion. We were also celebrating my Grandma Willis' 80th birthday.
We had a great time visiting and laughing. My Aunt Linda and Uncle Mike were in charge this year and they are some of the funniest, most creative people I know. The theme was "A Hill Billy Reunion" and they had taken cardboard and built and painted many things that made the room look great.
Here is my Aunt Linda welcoming us and telling jokes. She really had us rolling and I loved her costume...teeth and all.
Annie and Taylor had to get into costume for the kid's dance. Cute huh?
Here is my Aunt Nylene leading the great-grand kids in the "Hill Bunny Hop". They went all over the room and had a lot of fun.
This is just a sample of what Mike and Linda made. I wish I could bottle her creativity and sell it. (or maybe I'd just be selfish and keep it all for me!)
Games are always a big part of our reunions. We had some fun paper games with a prize of canned "roadkill". I ended up with canned 'coon...mmmmm. This year they had a game that was just for the 8 kids and their spouses. They had to line up, run to a box, put whatever was in the box on, run back to the line, undress and help the next person dress and so on until they had a full outfit. What Aunt Linda didn't tell them is that the men were putting on women's clothes and the women got the men's.
I love this picture of my dad...he's wearing his hat and trying to put on the undies. This gives new meaning to the phrase "Granny Panties".
After the undies, he had to put on his pantyhose. He put a big hole in them the first try. After that none of the other men would put them on...they took the easy way out and wore them on their heads.
Dad trying desperately to take off the undies to give them to Uncle Chris. He is the one that started the pantyhose on the head thing. I missed the picture of Uncle Mel putting on the bra. He had to have help to hook it...oh the things men just can't do. :)
This is my Uncle Ron and Aunt Lynee. They came all the way from Oklahoma for this special day. They were last in line, so once they were dressed in their "finery" they danced for us. I don't think I've laughed that hard in a long time.
This is my wonderful Grandma. She lived down the street and around the corner from us growing up. (both sets of grandparents were within walking distance...how blessed is that?) This woman has lived through 2 horrible car accidents...one of which took one lung and the other that incapacitated her remaining lung further, she has battled breast cancer twice, has lived through countless trials, has had many heartaches and still has a wonderful, positive outlook on life. I am awed by her testimony and her faith and I love her dearly.
Her children gave her this for her birthday. It's a puzzle out of a picture taken of my Grandpa the day he caught this prize fish at Big Lake. He was so proud of that fish that he kept it in the freezer for years and showed it to anyone that stopped by. We probably should have had it stuffed, but instead, we displayed it at his funeral and then threw it out. My grandparents were very close and deeply in love. Even now the thought of him brings tears to her eyes. When the time comes for her to pass on we'll miss her, but the joy that we'll have knowing their reunion will be sweet will be a great comfort.
I caught her in a laugh...isn't she beautiful?
Here is her entire family. I don't think all 8 kids have been together in over 10 years. They are in order...Randy (my dad), Linda, Carol, Mel, John, Lynee, James, and Nylene.
Grandma made homemade carmels and rootbeer for the occasion. We were a little worried because the rootbeer had Bud Light bottlecaps, but it's just plain old rootbeer and Tyson loved it.
We got this picture coming up out of Salt River Canyon on the way home (also known as the place where someone always throws up). I love the look of the storm rolling in.
No trip through Globe is complete without a stop at our favorite Mexican Food restaurant, La Casita. We stop there every time. Tyson was so happy to be out of the car that he was feeling a little mischievious. Annie is feeling the end of his mischievious fork.
As we were leaving Globe/Miami we stopped to look at this truck. It's an old Caterpillar and Kevin was fascinated. If you look carefully, the old truck is sitting in the dump bed of a mine dump truck. It's HUGE!!!
Front view of the older truck.
Those dots are Annie, Taylor and Tyson. Just looking at this gives you a pretty good idea of how big this thing was.
We finally pulled into the driveway at 8:30 tonight...tired and sore from sitting too much, but we had a great time and can't wait for another adventure. :)
