This weekend, we went to our annual reunion in Tennessee. Each year, I realize more & more how beautiful it is & how blessed I am to have an AMAZING family! You don't see many families who are as close as we are...cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. My grandma was born in TN & lived there for a while. My mom lived there for a short while when she was little....along with my aunt & uncle's. Granny still has a house there. She hasn't lived there for many years, but it was always the house we stayed at when we were growing up.
I have so many fond memories of good ol' Byrdstown. When we would go down, we often stayed a few nights at Aud & Amon's (my grandma's sister & brother-in-law). I remember sleeping on feather beds with feather pillows. My sister, me, my cousin Caroline & my cousin Jean (who lived down there) would stay up playing games. We always played one particular game. Crap! I can't remember the name of it. Ash or Caroline? Let me know if you remember it. We had a piece of paper & on it, someone else would write your answers. For instance, we would name: 5 names, 5 rooms in your house, 5 body parts..etc. And then we would read it off in the order we wrote it. "Ashley was in the laundry room with Chris & her big toe was......" You get the idea? Man, it was so fun!
We also did cheers and made up dances. As a matter of fact, Caroline, Ash & me remember one particular dance. It was to a tune you might remember, by a great band called "Def Lepard" and the song was, "Pour Some Sugar On Me." To this day, we do that dance. We were freakin hot!! Heck, we
STILL are :)
Do you know that when we got up for breakfast, we usually had; eggs, sausage, biscuits, bacon, orange juice and milk? And then, when the dishes were almost done for breakfast, they started making lunch! Good lord, those Southerners sure know how to cook. I need to learn from them!
As the years went on, my mom & step-dad bought a cabin down in the "Hollar"...Rough Shod Hollow to be exact. My uncle, Bill, started this place. When we were little, he used to have Rodeo's there. And he used to let us ride horses (although I was usually too scared) & go down to the creek. He would ride a horse & tie a shovel to a rope & pull us. Ahhh...the fun! Eventually, people started having cabins built for them. The Hollar is an amazing place. If you know me, you know I absolutely am TERRIFIED of bugs...SPIDERS! Let me tell you, the Hollar is filled with all kinds of "wildlife." Spiders galore, copperheads, other snakes, bees and lots of other things.
So anyway, mom & Duane bought this cabin about 12 years or so ago (I'm guessing). The cabin is pretty cool. However, I usually have a bit of a problem staying there. Like I mentioned before, BUGS! Let me tell you a few stories.
I remember when mom said to me, "Now Shannon, I don't want to scare you, but there are copperheads down here & they can kill you." HUH???
All I kept thinking was, "Oh lord, I'm gonna be in the shower & a big ol' copperhead is going to slide up thru the drain & bite my crotch & kill me!" Oh, and if you saw me taking showers down there (which you better not!), you would see me frantically washing my hair with my eyes open....looking in every corner of that place for a spider to jump down & eat my face off! Yes, I believe that can happen. I don't think you understand the sheer terror!
Another story...this was a few years back...before kids. Nate & I had gotten down to the cabin at night. Mom & D were already there & so was Lee (my brother). Lee was down helping Nate get our stuff out of the car. I was in the bedroom where we slept. Mom said, "Did you want me to change the sheets on the bed? They should be fine because we washed them before we left last time." My Critter Instinct clicked in & I said, "yea, we better...it will make me feel better." Mom gets on one side of the bed, me on the other. We pull back the sheets & out crawls a LIZARD! A LIZARD, people! Scared the SH&^ out of me & mom & we both screamed. Lee said that they heard us outside & Nate looked at Lee & said, "It's already started!"
Now, we all have families of our own & can't fit into that cabin together. This weekend, Ash & her boys stayed with Mom & Duane. We have stayed at a house we rented for the past two years. It's a nice place. We are going to start taking turns staying in the cabin. Oh, by the way, the name of the cabin is, "The Moonlight Lounge"...MEOW! Lee & Amber will have their little bundle of joy by this time next year & they may get to stay.
I took several pics this weekend & I'm going to post them.
William Jack ~ My nephew
Will again
Jonah
Jonah had an OBSESSION with doors this weekend. He & Jasper both managed to smash fingers. But hey, you can't tell a 2 year old that is what happens when you play in a door. Here he is playing "I see you" for about the 50th time with me. It was cute every time, too!
My brother, Lee, tossing a ball to Nate, who looks like he's thinking, "huh?"
My handsome little men
My handsome twin nephews. This is a rare pic as they rarely sit still...unless they are watching Spongebob. But this is one of my favorite pics of them.
Seriously, this is what my poor Jonah looked like all weekend. He has terrible allergies & he was miserable. His face looked horrible & he was getting over a cold.
Jonah & one of the random dogs that run around the hollar
Aunt Ashley to the rescue! Jonah was not happy but Ash stepped in with her cell phone & all was okay.
This is a cute pic of Jonah. His eyes are beautiful
Jonah hanging out on the picnic table with me
Inside the meetin house is where Jasper "raised the roof!" I have some performers...that's a fact. Jasper was singing like it was nobody's business & Iz was singing along & dancing.
Jas & Iz walking towards cousin Trevor
Sing it, baby!
Hello Ladies! Future Playgirl pin-up
Jonah & Uncle Lee
Jonah, Jasper, Nick & Isabel, bringing down the house.
Isabel...looking a little unsure about something
What a beauty!
