Thursday, August 12, 2010

Family Reunion

Our vacation began with a family reunion for Daddy's side of the family. It was a 7.5 hour drive that took us 10 hours. PHEW! We made it!

We arrived at Fall Creek Falls State Park near Chattanooga, TN late Friday afternoon, July 30. It felt like we blasted in to the inn, hit the ground running, scurried around, chatted with cousins and in-laws, chased Cupcake who was super-hyped, went swimming, fixed dinner, set up sleeping arrangements, walked down to inspect the lake, worked a puzzle, chatted a while longer, then crashed.



Vacation had begun. Rest and relaxation? Pffftttt! Who has time for that?


It was very good to see many of our favorite cousins, as well as Steve's brothers and their families. Sugar had a great time with all the teenage girls. Cupcake got to meet her aunt for the first time. She also thoroughly enjoyed getting to know some of the cousins that are closest to her age.

On Saturday, we had outside plans (more on that next time), so we were gone for most of the day. We got back to the park in time for our family dinner. Each reunion, the whole family gets together for a meal, followed by a presentation by Steve's dad, who is the resident genealogist. It was a very interesting time. He showed us how to use Ancestry.com and Family Tree Maker. He is pretty sure he can trace the family line all the way back to the 1400's.








This reunion was the first, and quite possibly the last time, all of Steve's brothers, their wives and kids were in the same place at the same time with his parents.




Early Sunday morning, we set out for the next, and longest leg of our journey. Before we began our nearly 600 mile journey to Washington, DC, we stopped at the falls (that is, Fall Creek Falls).


Cupcake took this one. She is so good at centering people. Maybe she could give me lessons.

Blessings to you,
Mamita

1 comment:

Therese Brown said...

This is wonderful Julie!!!! I enjoy seeing pictures of your family & the travels & happenings of the Sanders clan. Thanks for sharing since we have little time at church to catch up with each other.