Team Huddle 2009

The weekend following the Mrytle beach trip we had my immediate family's reunion.


Do you want to see what our car looks like when we travel? It's pretty funny. (We are planning to get a bigger car next year before the baby comes.)

This is where my feet are supposed to go:

The kids couldn't even see each other from their seats because we had stuff packed up so high.

We utilize every little nook and cranny that we can.

We get to camp in time for dinner, and here are pictures from the next morning.

Caroline, Mallary, Jay, and Trevan snuggling by the fire.

Camping = hot chocolate for breakfast.

My niece, Jenna, showing off one of her talents.



We started that day off with a hike. My mom's brother joined us, and my oldest brother and his family, and my little sister and her husband were the only ones that hadn't arrived yet.

Obviously, my brother was the only one aware that I was taking this picture - he gave me a great pose...

Mallary liked hiking with a walking stick, sometimes two.

We reached a point during the hike that we had to cross a wide creek (river?).


It's so funny - John carries Mallary all the way across the creek to keep her dry, then sets her down in a puddle of water to play in???

We took a tram ride instead of hiking back the way we came.

Mallary was very unsure about getting into the tram.

The kids loved being together!

The two newest additions to our family; Samuel and Charlotte.

Trevan and my sister Candi enjoying being fire side.

The fire put my niece, Caroline to sleep.

And, my brother-in-law, Ben.

This is how we know my little sister, Marianne was there; pajama pants and running shoes.

Looks like Marianne is telling a tall tale behind Trevan. Look how dirty Trevan is... he had a fun day!

The next morning started out with family skits.

John and I did the old "hug the potholder skit." You see John standing in the background holding a pot? There is also a pot holder on the ground, and you tell everyone to try and hug the pot holder without picking the pot holder up off of the ground. My oldest brother, Jeryl, figured it out and went and hugged John.

We also showed them how to build a camp fire using people volunteers as kindling and wood... at the end you show them how to put out a campfire too, by tossing some water over them.

In coming up with ideas for our reunion, I told my dad that we should do shirts with the numbers on the back of them representing when we joined the family. So, my dad had the shirts made with L&M Team Huddle. My parents initials. I suggested team huddle because my mom taught me a cheer that they did in her day, "The team got in a huddle, the captain lowered his head, they all got together and this is what they said..." My dad liked it because when we gathered for family prayer together we usually ended up chatting a long time before or after - like a team huddle.

So my dad's skit was at thing he wrote about our family "team." He talked about draft picks and everything. It was pretty funny.

My baby will be the next number.

My brother Jeremy, and his family below.

My sister, Marianne, and her husband, Ben.

Mallary and Trevan in their team shirts.

All of us, and our numbers below. We had two "retired jerseys;" my mom, and a grand baby - #2 and #12. I'm #6, John's #16, Trevan's #18, and Mallary's #25. New baby will be #28.

Mallary perfers to swing on her belly.

The water balloon fun.

Good thing Dad decided to go back to camp and put his poncho on...
I felt queasy from my pregnancy almost through the whole reunion, and I was cold!

Another peacock-ay picture of Marianne!

This picture literally makes my mouth water. My grandparent's garden produces the best tomatoes in the world!!! I remember telling someone that there are actual green tomatoes, that they just weren't unripe tomatoes, and they totally didn't believe me! Here's a picture of said green tomatoes. Delish!!

We had our own movie theater in the woods.

Our hotel.

Mallary playing in the trash bins. Of course she would be found there...

My dad with my 99 year old Great Grandma, Granny Cole. She's still a little spitfire of a person.

Mallary got drenched playing in the water fountain.

This is Trevan and his cousin, Grace. I had to post all of these pictures because they are so cute together!

Five generations. This was the last picture we took, and we got in the car and drove home. I tried to stay awake to make sure John got to the interstate alright, but I was so exhausted I fell asleep before we even got there. That family reunion wore me out (being pregnant and ill didn't help any...)!