It's All About Some Tradition ...

There's nothing like a family reunion ...

Actually ... we have a great family reunion ... this is like our 27th year to meet ... majority of those years have been in Gatlinburg ... there have been a few others where we met in Georgia and Florida.

We had a very large cabin/chalet - definitely in the mountains! Way up there!

We had a great time ... but we were ready to come home ... five days without Daddy and Princess!

This is a picture of LeAnna and her cousin Cindy ...

Cindy is almost 3 ... she is the one who was born at like 27 weeks and survived ... her twin brother wasn't as fortunate ... after about 3-4 months in Vanderbilt she was able to come home ... she is doing fine.

We play "Dirty Christmas" every year ... well ... this year ... there were some pretty interesting gifts floating around ...

PLUS ... we played it different than we have before ...

You draw a number (like normal) ... but then you also draw a name ...

So with the number, you go in order BUT ... the catch is ... you are choosing a gift for the "secret name" that you have drawn ...

Made it VERY interesting ...

Me, for one ... kept forgetting I wasn't choosing a prize for myself ... and ended up with a not so nice gift for my Uncle! ha! BUT ... luckily someone liked my gift and took it from me ... so I ended up with something very nice that he liked ...

THEN ... after every gift had been chosen ... we started with #1 ... and they had to give their gift and tell "why" they chose it for them! =)

Pretty funny!

The following two gifts were the funniest!

Yikes!

My poor Mom ended up with a neck tie that had deer on it ... "oh dear"

ha!

Anyhoo ...

I always love our family reunions ... I guess because it's a "sure thing" ... you know it's going to happen every year ... and you plan for it ... everyone makes every effort to be there ... and it has become a strong thread in the weave of our family quilt. Although Mama Neely is no longer there (and of course we took time to reminisce about Mama Neely - such sweet memories) ... there is still that strong bond that each one feels every time we gather ...

What an awesome feeling to know that you have the support of family - in good times and bad ... and our family has its share of bad ... but what a great support system!

I started a family newsletter about twelve years ago ... every month family members send in letters, announcements, pictures, recipes, funny "past"stories that they remember, poems, etc. and they are put into newsletter form ... it is mailed out once a month ... My cousin Jeanine took over this task several years ago when it became a little too much for me to handle and she has done a great job! Now it's via "email" ...

So ... there are two of our "family traditions" that we have committed ourselves to and are SO glad we have!

Well .. glad to be home to get back into a routine ... it's just busy, busy the next few days ...

Life comes at you fast!

Happy Day ... tammy