First Camping Trip of the Year

Yeah, our first camping trip of the year. I love taking the camper out and just sitting around and relaxing. Chris and Syble came down from Searcy, AR. We camped right next to them. Friday night some of Chris' family came out and ate dinner. Syble and Chris always cook a huge, delicious spread. We always have a good time with them.Eric, Cynthia's husband, Chris, and Chris' mother, Minerva enjoyed the evening.

It didn't take Shea and Dixie but a second to become good buddies. Dixie is looking at the pictures on Cynthia's camera. Cynthia is Chris' sister and Dixie is his great niece.Minerva and Rollie. Here is a neat piece of information for you. Rollie had just gotten back from Washington, D.C. where he was one of four veterans chosen to participate in the changing of the wreath ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. He is a World War II veteran and was given the opportunity to visit the National WWII War Memorial. I know it was a trip of a lifetime for him. Thank you Rollin Cochran for your service to our country and to us.Syble with Smidge, Zach with Ginger and Grant just sitting around taking it all in. Zach enjoys hanging out with Mr. Chris and Ms. Syble as much as we do. What a sweet baby. This is Mason, Chris' great-nephew and Dixie's little brother. I think he enjoyed his first camping experience. I remember Dixie was a tiny little thing the first time she came to the lake to see Uncle Chris and Aunt Syble.Grant looks like he is wondering when I am going to put the camera away.

This was Ginger's first camping trip and she was pooped out after the first night. She found her a comfortable spot on Grant's legs and took her a nap.This is Chris with his sister, Cynthia, and Cynthia's daughter, Erin. Erin is the mother of the two beautiful babies, Dixie and Mason. Erin has always been special to me, she and my niece, Mary Kate were best buddies in high school.

Shea and Dixie stopped playing just long enough for me to get a quick picture.

Here are Syble and Chris Saturday night after dinner. Again, they cooked. I can honestly say I have never tasted anything they cooked that I didn't like. I do feel a little guilty because I never do much cooking when they are around. I didn't do any, and I mean any, this time. I told them next time we camped together we would do the cooking and let them relax the whole trip. I do know I will never be as creative with my meals as they are.Michelle and John David came out for a visit and Michelle got the chance to meet Chris and Syble. You see where Shea is at, don't you? Shea was a little upset when I had to break the news to her that Harley, Michelle's daughter, wasn't coming with them. She is so excited about getting new cousins, girl cousins, and she gets two, three with Michelle!!And, as always, look at the group of teenagers that showed up. There is Kevin, Tyler, Ethan, Brett, Zach, and Kacie. But something very unusual happened this time though. I only had one spend the night in our camper with us. Kacie stayed with us. The boys went to the cabins but got locked out and, I think, slept in the car all night. At least that is the story I got. They look like they are planning something here. I always enjoy these guys when they come out. They are a good group of kids and I would lots rather have them with us than running the streets.Little Smidge is a good guard dog. She heard something out in the woods and was ready to get it. Luckily, Chris had a good grip on that leash.Look at this poor, little, tired doggy. By Sunday, Ginger would just lay down anywhere you put her. Shea fixed her up a little chair and Ginger was perfectly happy just sitting there.Well, looks like the camping season has begun for us. I know, some of you think it really isn't camping if you pull your RV up and plug in the electricity and water. My friends, that is the only kind of camping I do now. I am too darn old to try to pitch a tent, much less sleep in it.

I will be telling you all about the Killgore Reunion we went to Saturday in my next post. It was at the old Killgore House in Lisbon. And yes, I have pictures. (imagine that!)

Charlene

P.S. Could you all please keep my Uncle Bill, Franklin Smith, in your prayers. He is my daddy's oldest brother and is in the hospital. His condition is serious. Also say a prayer for his daughter, Shelia, while she takes care of him. My mom is in Alabama with them now to try to help Shelia.

I found Jeremy

I just thought this picture was lost. This is the picture my mom wanted of the three boys all dressed up at the prom.

Jeremy is the oldest, 19, then Zach, 16, and Brandon, 15. Jeremy and Brandon are my youngest brother's, Keith, sons. Zach and Brandon are only 10 months apart in age so they have been close buddies their entire lives.

I wanted to make sure you saw this picture of my handsome son and handsome nephews. You may want to look really close because this could possible be the last time you see all three of these guys in a tux at the same time AND smiling (except at a wedding, maybe).

I'll be posting about last weekend here in a couple of days, camping at the lake with friends and a Killgore family reunion. Y'all come back now, ya hear?

Charlene

Prom Night 2009

It's that time of year again. The prom was last Friday night so I wanted to share some pictures. Those of you that are facebook friends have already seen most of these pictures but for those of you who are not (and I don't know why you're not) here you go.


Zach, being the clown he is, decided he wanted to see how he looked in Kacie's dress. Kacie decided if he was wearing her dress she wanted to wear his tux. These two are so funny, they have a lot of fun together and they love to make me laugh.

Now, this is better, don't you think?
Kacie's dress was beautiful and she looked so pretty in it.

Zach on his cell phone. It's almost a permanent fixture on the side of his head. But wait, Kacie is with him so it's not her, who could it be? Either Ethan, Brandon, Tyler, Kevin; who knows.Shea had the best time watching Kacie get ready. I think she sat and watched Kacie the entire time she was putting on her make-up and Kacie, being the sweet person she is, took the time to help Shea with a little make-up of her own. It's no wonder Shea loves Kacie.
It was threatening rain all day Friday and of course started about 15 minutes before they were ready. We figured we were not going to be able to take pictures outside but it stopped just long enough for me to get a few good shots. They looked so nice. And please notice the flowers behind them, they are just beautiful this year.
You can see how pretty Kacie's dress is in this picture.
See, always something with these two!!

This is my favorite picture of them.
Look who showed up, it's Sir Ethan Anderson. The three of them were going to Summerfield to Emily's house for picture and then off to dinner. Emily is Ethan's girlfriend.
I had to get Ethan in the picture since he is like one of my children. Kacie looks really short standing between these two giants.

Zach and Ethan have been best buds for a really long time. They started school together in K-4 at Mt. Olive and have been friends since. Can't you tell how happy they are together. Again I say, "always the clowns".

The more serious look.

Zach bought new rims to go on "Lil Red" but wasn't able to get them on his truck because he didn't have new tires. Since he forgot to get the rims out of his truck BEFORE he put on his tux he had to do it AFTER. Luckily he didn't get filthy. Here they are heading to Summerfield.

After picture's at Emily's they went to Simmsborro to eat at JR's. The prom didn't start until 7PM so they come back by the house. I took the opportunity to take a few more pictures. I think they were all so full they couldn't move to fast. Mamaw got to come over to see them all dressed up too.
I really like this picture too.
A really good picture of Ethan and Emily.
The prom was at the Homer Country Club. I went up there to get a few pictures and I didn't embarrass my child at all by being there. I didn't get a lot of pictures there because I was trying to hurry and get gone! The music was way to loud, the dancing was mostly something I had never seen before and there were teenagers everywhere. Oh man, I'm getting old.

I hung around long enough to get some pictures of the kids dancing. Here is Zach and Kacie during a slow dance.

Another one of my children, Tyler, dancing with Lauran. Tyler meet me at the door with a big ol' hug.
The crew (minus one). Ethan, Zach, Tyler and Kevin stopped long enough to pose for a picture. I couldn't find Brandon at the time. I hate he was left out of the "thug" picture.But since Brandon missed that picture I got one of him with Zach because by the time I found him the others had disappeared. It's nice to see cousins that think so much of each other. Again I say, "always the clowns". I told them Mamaw wanted a picture of them together so they decided to show Mamaw how much they love each other. I made a picture of Jeremy, Brandon and Zach for Mamaw that turned out really good but it seems as though I have lost it in space somewhere.
The kids had a good time. After prom Emily's mom and dad, Lara and Robbie, let them come over to their house and have an after prom party. I was sooooo happy when he told me what they wanted to do. I knew I wouldn't have to worry if they were at Emily's. Not that I worry about Zach and his friends very much anyway, they are a really great group of kids and I am so thankful. I'm not sure I could have hand-picked a group I would like any better.

Anyway, this is what my living room looked like until Saturday afternoon. That is Zach and Kacie in the chairs and Brandon and Kyle on the couch. They were so tired. I think they slept less than an hour all night. Lara and Robbie cooked breakfast for them Saturday morning and sent them home. I'm sure they were wanting some sleep themselves. I saw Lara and Robbie at church Sunday morning and they didn't look worn out at all.
I had to show you a close-up of Brandon. He liked that tux so much he didn't take off his jacket and tie. He slept in this the entire time at my house.So ends the prom of 2009. Thanks to everyone that had a part in making it so much fun for the kids. And thank you to Lara and Robbie for opening your home to the kids so they could continue the fun.

Charlene

ALWAYS ROOM FOR MORE

I have a lot of people in my family and I mean just my immediate family. My mom and dad have five children and each of those children have children, and then some of those children have children......well, you get the point.

I mentioned in a previous post about Jason and April getting married in May. So there we have one added. I'm not sure if I have posted about Randy and Donna getting married but they too will tie the knot sometimes this summer (I'm not sure on the date). Donna will be bringing with her, her children and grandchildren into our family. I'll have to get back to you on that count. I wanted to post some pictures of these guys but I seemed to have already deleted them from my computer. So I guess until I post wedding pictures (oh, and I will have lots of wedding pictures) you will have to go back to previous post to see their pictures.

We have one more wedding this year that was just made official this past weekend, John David and Michelle. Michelle is bring with her, her two beautiful girls. Here is a picture of John David and my soon-to-be niece and great-nieces. (Sorry, I couldn't figure out how to enlarge the picture, I swiped them off of John David's facebook.)

John David, being the sneaky little devil he his, told Michelle we were all getting together at Mamaw's house for Easter, which was the truth but a few details may have been left out. John David wanted to officially propose to her at Mamaw's house with his and her family there. So, back in February, I think it was, he began to tell me all the plans he had to make so this would be a big surprise. Since Easter Sunday also happened to be Michelle's birthday he decided he would have a "surprise" birthday party for her. But the real surprise was that he was giving her the ring and make an official proposal.

Michelle was surprised when they got there. John David had her a big birthday cake and Mamaw, of course, had plenty of food. After the birthday cake Kenneth went in the living room and started playing his guitar, like he normally would. Everyone came in to listen and then he said he had a special request for Michelle. He started playing one of Michelle's favorite songs. I think she was pretty surprised about that too.

Just before the song was over, John David got down on one knee, pulled out the ring, and asked her to marry him. Oh, it was so sweet. I think you can tell from the pictures she was surprised yet again.

She said YES!! Of course I knew she would, she loves my John David. He was trying to put the ring on her finger but she kept waving her hands around and covering her face. I think he finally told her he needed her hand to put the ring on.

Of course there were tears, but they were all happy tears. And no, Michelle wasn't the only one crying.
And the first picture of the officially engaged couple.

Don't they look happy. I read something on Michelle's facebook one of her friends wrote that I just had to share. It said John David was a lucky man, he gets 3 beautiful women for the small price of one ring. How cool is that?

John David and Michelle, I pray that you have a very long and very happy life together. And to Michelle, Mercedes and Harley, welcome to our family, I love you guys!!!!!

Charlene