45th Annual Family Reunion

On Friday, July 12, as soon as Caleb's well check-up was finished, we headed to Slate Run, PA for the 45th Annual Family Reunion on Shawn's Mom's side of the family. By the time we arrived, the volleyball net was in front of the cabin and the games were well underway.

Most folks either bring a tent or a camper to stay in. We were extremely blessed to be able to sleep in the "white house" in the back room (the only one with a door) where Ryan slept well in his pack 'n play, Shawn & I pushed the two twin beds together, and the boys slept in sleeping bags on the floor.

Here's Daddy and his boys:

I sat down with Daddy & Joshua too (and Aunt Erica and cousin Jenavieve are in the background and Logan is next to Shawn - unless that's Jackson, his brother!).

I tried to get one with me and the boys, but they weren't really into pictures.

And we attempted to get a family picture. Below is what we got:

Ryan loved his volley ball!

My least favorite part of this year was the kids who kept putting frogs on everyone. Here was Papaw being a good sport with one on his head.

Here was a view of the circle around the campfire. I didn't feel like we got to enjoy it too much this year, but that's part of having kids this age who need to go to bed at a reasonable hour and want Mommy & Daddy to stay with them.

Years past, this is where jokes are told and stories are shared, etc.

We brought stuff to make s'mores one night, and the boys enjoyed them. Well, at least the thought of them. They pretty much just ate the marshmallows.

Church this year was on Saturday vs. Sunday.

Here are Shawn's Mom's cousins all singing.

Caleb enjoyed sitting with Aunt Erica (we forgot their chairs) and Ryan was with his cousin Jenavieve.

Then the kids performed their songs for the crowd, with Carissa leading. They were cute to watch. (These pictures are in no order of any kind.

Ryan loved Amichi, Shawn's distant cousin Megan's boyfriend (I think - sometimes the names all escape me). He said "is that your juice?" asking about Amichi's orange soda. They kept saying "Come on!" to each other. We all giggled. Ryan LOVED the attention!

The kids all had fun in the tubes when they weren't being used to go down the creek.

The volleyball playing went until dark. But after the big kids were done, the little guys wanted to give it a try. Joshua and the other boys went out with Daddy & Uncle Brian.

Aunt Erica bought the boys each a slate run shirt and a pair of crocs.

On Sunday, someone caught this snake (please don't ask me his name, because I don't remember!). He was showing it off to the kids.

Here is Carissa's daughter Natalie, showing us their frog aquarium. They were taking some of their new friends home with them.

Carson, her younger brother, caught another one in the meantime and asked if he could add it to their other ones. This was his aquarium that his older sister was holding.

On Saturday morning, Carissa and I went for a run on the bike trail. I'm guessing we went a little over three miles or so based on our pace and the time we were gone. It was fun! When we got back, I was even able to get a shower, which felt amazing!

Later that day, we went tubing as a family down Pine Creek. The boys LOVED it! Ryan was napping, and Mamaw agreed to listen for him to wake up while we left. It was SO FUN!!!

When we first got it, it was FREEZING!!!! I mean cold doesn't even begin to describe the icy temp of the water. But, it was also relaxing and fun. The rest of our group got away from us as Daddy tied all our tubes together with rope so there was no chance of getting separated.

When we asked the boys what was their favorite part, they immediately agreed that it was the tubing.

I was nervous to go at first. So was Shawn. But, everything was fine. This was the first year I've ever gone that we never hit rocks or needed to get out and walk with our tube. We drifted from the spot that the trucks dropped us off to the bottom of his Grandpa's cabin.

It was great! Bummer that Ryan will never get to experience it (since this was the last year).

As I mentioned earlier, when the tubes weren't being used in the creek, the kids played and played in them.

It made me nervous at first that the kids would just run off with the extended cousins. I can't tell you how many times I'd ask Shawn "Where is Caleb? Have you seen Joshua?" We typically tried to keep Ryan somewhat close by because he is too little to be without an adult nearby to monitor his movement.

At one point, we lost Caleb. I mean, I couldn't find him anywhere! Typically if I realized I hadn't seen one of their heads in awhile, I'd go looking to see if they were okay. Usually I found them within a minute or two, playing a game with their cousins. But, this time, we couldn't find him. Here, he was exploring Uncle Brian & Aunt Gayle's tent. He LOVES the idea of tenting. He liked looking around at the different types of tents in the massive yard. Silly buddy! We asked him not to go in anyone's tent anymore, as that was their property.

If you see the yellow line below, it's the line that marks the volleyball playing. Ryan kept tripping on it, as you can see in the picture. I also fell over it once when it got caught in my flip flop. I laughed - I even know better!!!

One of the "fun" parts of a trip to Slate Run is Wolfe's General Store, which we always call the candy store. The boys went there several times with Papaw and with us to get ice cream and candy.

On Saturday afternoon, the kids practiced their songs for the evening church service.

Later on, Shawn's parents provided lunch meats and cheeses and sandwich fixings while folks brought out what sides they brought to go along with dinner (years past it's been baked potatoes instead of sandwiches, but they wanted to do something different for the final year).

The kids had fun looking for crayfish and different things in the creek. They stayed close to the edge and just enjoyed skipping rocks and being together.

Ryan enjoyed watching volleyball from the porch.

And Aunt Erica got a picture of him trying on Papaw's hat.


The kids all have fun chasing Papaw around.

On Sunday morning, I dressed our family alike. It felt strange not having church that morning and the prayer time that goes with it at the end of the time. We started off with the typical Sunday sticky bun breakfast. Yum! Here's Shawn's family:

And we tried to get some family pictures in general.

Since the back row was in the shadows, I tried to give them a little extra light to be seen better. This was the only family picture I got. Not sure if any other cameras got a better one.

Here was our family that day (Ryan did not want to participate in pictures!):

Here was Shawn's brother Brian's family:

Shawn's sister Missy and her husband Kevin:

Shawn's parents and sister Erica:

Here was a couple of Shawn and his siblings:















And we tried to get a couple of the boys:

And Erica took a couple of Shawn & me:

We tried to get some of the older boys in front of Pine Creek.

Ryan loved the deck overlooking the beautiful scenery:

And we got a couple good ones of Caleb (since Joshua was also done with pictures by this point):

I almost forgot this picture of Caleb, which was one of my favorites from the weekend:

Below is Caleb at the fire pit where we roasted marshmallows the night before. The kids also saw fireworks the night before. Only at the end of the show, two went sideways rather than up, scaring EVERYONE half to death. No one was injured, praise God!

Below were the bears that Ryan loved. One of the cabin members paid to have these carved out of a tree on the property. My littlest buddy kept asking to go back over to the bears, who he called Sam.

Here's Auntie Erica with her niece and nephews:

Caleb enjoyed being spoiled with all the candy!

So did Joshua & Grant, I think. The cousins all got along really well together! It was a fun weekend for everyone!



Soon enough, it was time to start saying our goodbyes:

Here are some pictures of the cabin and property. It may be the last time we ever see it, depending on where life's adventures take us, since this was the last family reunion. Here's the side of the cabin overlooking Pine Creek and the beautiful deck:

Here's the front:

Here's another angle:

Here's Pine Creek and the deck:

The cabin and the bears:

Goodbye, Dutch Masters and Slate Run! Maybe our paths cross again someday!