Christmas Eve

From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

Hello All,
Our American Dynasty is a family composed of people from all walks of life, religious persuasions, and political preferences. By birth, we are members of a large extended community laboring through the challenges of life with our eyes set ahead. We work to provide for our own and feel a strong common goal to leave the world a better place for those who come after. We are anchored in this time and place by knowing of those who came before; strong pioneers who survived the best and worst of times.
This blog tells one American story. It's our story, the story of the Williamson's and Mattson's.

Ashly DelGrosso Costa and her family are part of our American Dynasty. Ashly is my niece, daughter of my sister Kim Williamson DelGrosso. This is her Relationship Chart, our way of celebrating and honoring those who've come before.

Ashly is a professional ballroom dancer, teacher, and coach. She appeared on season one of Dancing With the Stars. Ashly and Mike are documenting their family's American story in a YouTube Vlog. What better way to tell our family's Christmas 2015 story then to let them tell it, and better yet, show it.
The family Christmas Eve gathering starts at 4:49. Lots of fun before that so please enjoy the entire video. You can support Ashly and Mike by subscribing to the Vlog.

Simply,
Victor
   

Christmas 2010. Mattson / Williamson Party. Christmas Eve. Christmas With the DelGrossos

Hello All,
In this Eve of Christmas Eve, I've decided to post two short videos from our Christmas of 2010.
Enjoy!
Victor

The Mattson / Williamson Family Christmas Gathering. 2015. A Decluttered Event Following the Nationwide Trend.

 

The All Wise Elders of the Clan
Bev, Luella, Charles (cleverly photoshopped in. He was at Walmart), and John

  

     The Mattson/Williamson yearly Christmas party was held yesterday at Center Stage Dance Studios in Orem, Utah. There were many absent. I suspect the usual excuses - ill health, out of town, couldn’t be bothered, depression, no longer identifying as a Mattson or Williamson, bored of seeing the same faces, bored of hearing the same stories, adverse to hugs and other public displays of familial relationships, was offended by someone last year and refused to attend to make a public statement of general disagreeableness, dentureslipophobia, fear of group bonding games, and having to ‘work’. The only family members with acceptable excuses were those long dead and buried. 

The holiday reunion was held in a modest venue.

     Which ended up being just the right size for our reserved yet regal gathering

     oops, wrong party...... wrong pictures......

     OK, got that problem solved. I got my party pictures mixed up. I get invited to too many holiday parties. After awhile they all blend together in my brain. 

     Here are the pictures for the Mattson / Williamson family party.   

     The holiday reunion was held in a modest venue, Center Stage Dance Studio in Orem. We were in Studio 4 next to the preschool's toilets. Jilane's preschool was right behind the double doors, which lent itself an excellent far away land to exile the little noise makers.  They ran wild and free while we conversed.  Luckily mom and I had our Hart's Super Big Gulps to sip on during those awkward lulls in conversation :)  

Forrest

     Phones provided another source of distracted when needed.

     Kevin, Brooklyn, and Kenedee sat away from the main table. They were protective of their super deluxe pizza with extra cheese and pepperoni.  I was allowed to join them and indulged in a generous helping of free smells.  

  

      Luella was a bit camera shy at first, but soon warmed up.

     There was a children's table. This was the best I got from them when a "smile for the photo," was requested. They didn't know me from Adam, hence the stranger danger look.  

      It was a BYOP affair with two side tables reserved for sweets. A caesar salad paired with a vegetable tray added a bit of variety to the confections and pastries.  There is an old, well established belief in the Mattson / Williamson family that says the calories eaten from handfuls of cake, fudge, donuts, etc. can be halfed if you first help yourself to a quarter paper plate of cauliflower and / or broccoli, dipped deeply in a heavy dip.  
   

     Kevin and Kristin flew in from Nashville for other reasons AND made time for a fashionably late entrance to the family party. Kevin's thumbs up was his reaction to my wielding an iphone 6s. I was being congratulated for finally adapting to the 21st century. 

     Annette and Thane enjoyed their pizza while Annette tracked her 'Likes'. 

   Brandon and Monica were there along with all but one of their kids. Cameron was absent, using one of the excuses listed at the top of the page. Goose stared at his dad's salad wondering why they had to play the healthy card on that night of all nights. 

     Cheyenne, Val, and Kirk sat with Emily and Bev. I joined them after helping myself to the cauliflower and broccoli followed by an assortment of reduced calorie items. Kirk told tales of his adventures reffing college football. The pictures were great. 
     Camille complained about always being referred to as Kirk Mattson's sister.  "Everyone loves Kirk because he's a PAC 12 football ref," she mumbled. "His name is the one to drop if you're looking for your 5 minutes of relationship fame."
     I personally have no idea what she's talking about....

    By the way, did you know my first cousin is a PAC 12 football ref?   

     I thought I'd drop these couple of photos into the post just for reference......

     Getting back to the party - our medical conditions inevitably floated to the conversation's surface.  We went around the table sharing stories of medical procedures gone right and horribly wrong.  

     Taylar and Jilane.  Kirk was acting a bit weird. It had to be my new iPhone 6s, complete with deluxe protective cover and Verizon 4g nationwide coverage. 

     A good time was had by all.  Linda was on a downer for part of the night having forgotten to start the feast with a quarter paper plate of cauliflower and / or broccoli dipped deeply in a heavy dip. She was not happy with herself.  

     The Delgrossos sat mid table. Monica was exhausted by the end of the evening having to track conversations from both ends.  Brandon didn't seem to care.

The Paper Plate Contest

     

     Besides riveting conversation laced with clever puns and anecdotes, we had a draw the snowman competition. Annette captured several photos of the event which I stole from her Facebook page.

     Emily Mattson won with the best drawn snowman. Mine looked more like 'snowman' written in Chinese. It was the perfect game - fun without a lot of group bonding. 

  

 Executive Summary

     The family party this year was simple, easy, and fun. Let's face it, if we tried to get any more ambitious it just wouldn't happen. That's why I call it a decluttered event.  

     We don't see each other enough. Everyone is busy with their own lives, so having these rare get togethers is a blessing. A Thank you needs to be said to all who put it together. A special thank you to Kim and Jilane for providing the room. We missed all of you who couldn't make it and hope to see you all soon. 

Victor

Grandma Elda's First Marriage to William John Zderick. New Information.

From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

Hello All,
Last Sunday I did a bit more research on Grandma Elda's (Elda Vercellino, mother to Charles Williamson) first marriage to William Zderic.
I found them in the 1930 U.S. Census.
This is the South Dakota record of their marriage.  You'll notice they wed in 1926.

The 1930 U.S. Census shows them still married.

That's four years married, much longer than I had originally believed.  Charles was just as surprised to learn that his mother was married to Mr. Zderic that long.  Everyone believed they were married for a short time before the divorce and the Catholic annulment. 

Elda and William lived at 632 Prospect Avenue, Lead South Dakota (shown below) 

  

  

This is William Zderic's entry in the South Dakota 1935 Census. He is listed as divorced. 

Elda Vercellino married Charles Williamson on May 4, 1934.  So we know Elda and William divorced sometime between 1930 and 1934.  I haven't found the divorce record.

According to Grandma Elda, William's mother was against the marriage in the first place and never liked her as a daughter-in-law.  The Zderic family obtained an annulment of the marriage from the Catholic church sometime before William married his second wife Ida in 1936.  You'll notice that William declares himself divorced in the 1935 state census, but changes that status to bacheler for the marriage license issued in July of 1936.

The Catholic Church grants annulments for many reasons, one of which is a civil marriage not blessed by the Church.  I believe William was given the Church annulment because he and Grandma Elda were married by a municipal judge.

The topic of Grandma's first marriage was taboo while she was alive.  However, she did say that they loved each other, but family pressure to divorce was more than the marriage could take.

 Simply,
Victor

More Unreliable Memories Down Memory Lane, Illustrated with Pictures of the Day.

From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

Hello All,
A new box of old family pictures was opened today revealing a few gems to brighten your Sunday afternoon.  Shall we get down to business?

This is Lisa looking all 1980's.  She's in her 'bad girl' pose.  We're from South Dakota, which is to say fashionably a decade behind the rest of the country.  I did some research just to be sure this was the fashion in the 1980's.  This is what I found fresh out of a fashion catalog of the time.

Comparing the two, I'd say Lisa was sporting the correct clothes and hair of the time - stone washed jeans and a right out of the shower hair style.  The look on her face helped her win Miss Teen South Dakota back at a time when the title meant something.  It was her well rehearsed pout with just a hint of sadness flavored with a pinch of naughtiness. That trademarked look turned many heads and pretty much guaranteed a life of pampered luxury :)

    

This picture of Lisa demonstrating the proper batting stance accompanied the 80's fashion shot.
This may be the last picture taken of Lisa wearing elastic waistline pants. The next time we see Lisa in elastic pants will be at the Nearly There Rest Home.  She'll be the one in the corner charming the widowers while hustling the new and uninitiated inmates at a game of poker.  

This picture of Janice holding baby Sheridan (?) and Luella was taken in Kim's Highland, Utah home.fifteen years or so ago. The photo was glued to a pane of glass in a frame. I believe it belonged to Grandma Violet Mattson. I couldn't peel the photo off the glass so it was scanned as is.

 This photo of three of Kim's daughters was trimmed into the shape of a heart and put in a frame - again the work of Grandma Mattson I'm sure.  It's hard to tell who they are. I asked Brock for his opinion. "They all look the same," Brock replied.  He gave me his best guess. I'll go with that.
Afton, Abrea, Avery.  Let the anger be upon Brock if he is wrong.

Annette's Christmas List

This is a real gem; Annette's Christmas wish list for herself and Bo, the family dog from the mid 1980's.  Annette was born to be a mom as evident in the wish list.  She was always thinking of others. The list for Bo is evidence of that. I don't believe our family was meant for pets.  They had to pretty much fend for themselves and knew when it was time to make their dramatic exit.

Inky, the cat with a gut of never ending hairballs, committed suicide. She sat near the station wagon's front tire and waited. She knew right when Luella would be backing out. She hobbled (arthritis) behind the front tire just when Luella put the car in reverse.  I'm sure it was excruciating painful, but over in a matter of seconds.

I think Bo did the same. He attempted to run away in the dark of night; got as far as the street and that was the end of that.  I'd like to think he was buried in the little basket and blanket Annette asked for in the Christmas list above.  It's doubtful, but I'd like to think that's how it was.

Absolute proof Annette was a great student. I present her Kindergarten report as evidence. She has one 'I' in printing her name.  Perhaps she was embarrassed to write Williamson. Remember, she was following Jilane and Lisa through school.  It's just a theory.

Annette's school picture. Looks like fifth grade.

And finally, Annette in all her glory.  A beautiful picture.  

Have a great week,

Simply,

Victor