Smicker Family Reunion




The Kennedy Clan, warriors all.


In recent years, we've gone camping with the Kennedy branch of the Smicker family, but this year, it was a bit cold, Rebecca was pregnant, Jerry somehow misplaced his fifth-wheel, and it was decided we'd stay at the Comfort Inn. We didn't realize until Dad tried to join us in our room that we were at the downtown Fernandina Beach Comfort Inn and everybody else was at the other one near the beach. Oops! We missed out on some of the hanging out on Friday night, but met everybody at Jessie and Johnny's on Saturday.

We didn't have our classic orange-ball-in-the-pantyhose game, but the auction, volleyball, and all the good eatin' went on as usual. Aunt Hattie was able to come, too, and we all hope that whe'll be around for many more reunions. She always reminds me of being a little kid, listening to my grandma and her sisters playing Rummy until 2 in the morning, with the special rules that you couldn't find in any Hoyle rulebook. Two of diamonds, two of spades, Ace of spades are the high trumps, for starters.

After the reunion, we headed back to the hotel and hung out in the lobby, eating pizza and leftover banana pudding. The kids were happy to play with Bendaroos and the guys watched the game. The ladies, of course, took the time to catch up on all the news and agonized over which pizza toppings to order;)

The next day we headed out to Fort Clinch for the morning and stopped at Sonny's barbeque for lunch. For some reason, it took about ten recounts to figure out how many we had in our party, and I'm still not sure we got it right! Nineteen? No, Twenty-one. This time I'm sure. Until next year!




Me and Aunt Karen



Allen and Rebecca Kennedy

Shannon in foreground, Jerry, Richard, Sharran, and Ralph in the background.

Untold numbers of kids on the hayride at the family reunion. Later we had a golf contest to see who could hit over the pond closest to the hole on the green on the far side, and 10 year old Garrett won.

Dad, Judye, and Cleo

Jojo and Shannon's boy checking out a huge caterpillar.

Me and Jojo braving the wind. Beautiful but cold day at Fort Clinch.

My cousin Allen, Cleo, and me, Kelly 

The second cousins. I'd name them, except this is the internet. I'm sure you understand.  

Me giving Shannon's girlie a horsie ride.

Cousins' kids- Shannon's, mine, mine, Shannon's, mine, mine, Richard's, Richard's

Loulou, Eli, Isaac, Jojo and Aunt Cleo



Mr. Jojo loves his sunglasses and his lightining McQueen jacket.



The Brothers: Ralph, Jerry, and Warren

Can't get enough?

Pumpkin Farm



I went to a farm on Friday with our preschool group on Friday. It was fun, but overpriced and the lady was a pumpkin nazi. So I was kind of grumpy about spending what I estimated would be around $70 bucks to go to a farm and buy a couple of pumpkins. I wanted to spend that money on pansies and cabbages and whatnot. Nathan bullied me into going, and I'm so glad. He found this farm up near Peak, SC that was so great. It was about an hour drive, but they had a $1 per person hayride and real pumpkins in the field, and a calf, a piglet, a goat and a sheep that the kids could pet. We bought a good-sized bag of feed for a dollar, so everyone got to feed several animals, including random children who got in line with our kids when Nathan was handing out feed. There was a live beehive behind glass that the kids thought was really cool. And they had reasonable priced fall perennials and annuals. So we had a great time, and I got my pansies, too.  

We definately found the two best pumpkins on the whole farm. No question.



See? Here's how I know. We looked at Every. Single. One.

Do I need to label this? It's a hayride, minus the hay.

Isaac squinting.

Lou-lou squinting.

Eli and Jojo squinting.

Jojo, strongest three year old in the patch.
He was very concerned when Nathan told him to hold the pumpkin.
"Its too big, Daddy! Too big for me." Note that he didn't let go of his football, though.
And just as a note to myself, those shorts are a little too short.
He looks like Christopher Robin in them, to me at least.

Can't get enough?

Emma's Baptism

The whole family. We actually were there on time. I know. Amazing.



Mama's friend that drove her down from Rock Hill, Papa Ray, Aunt Marcie and Uncle Brian.



Papa Bryce and Aunt Katie. Katie and Travis sang "A Child's Prayer" and it was so beautiful. They have such beautiful voices. Travis' wife Lisa accompanied them, but I don't have any pictures of Trav and Lisa because Travis had another singing engagement at a stake conference. One day we;ll get them to record an album, and then you'll see.

All male members of the LDS church are able to hold the priesthood, so it's usually dads who baptise their kids. Here's a picture of Nathan and Emma, all ready to jump in the font. Which, incidentally, was incredibly full. We got in their just in time to prevent an overflow and had to let out some water so they could get in.

Mom, Bill, and my little sister.



The ladies on Nathan's side. April. MaMa, Alecia, and Anna



Can't get enough?

Hickory Knob Triathlon Year Two

Okay, these pictures are all out of order, but it's a pain to reorder pictures on blogger, and I quit. 

Here's Nathan kicking it home, right at the finish line.

Nathan with his super amazing trophy- a hoodie! He placed first in his age group this year, 20th overall in the sprint distance.

 

Eli and Jonas chiiling after the race while we waited and waited for the awards ceremony to start.





I finally let the kids go to the playground. You'll have to read on to understand why it was so anticipated.



The kids and I on the hillside by the lake waiting for the race to start.
Kids: Can we go to the playground yet?
Me: Not yet. After Daddy finishes his swim.
Kids: But we're Booored.
Me: Only boring people are bored.
Kids: Playground? *making puppy eyes at me* Please?
Me: Grrrrr.
It only took 45 minutes of us standing around, waiting for the race to start, then waiting for Nathan's wave, then watching the tiny ant people splash around the buoys.



And now we're back to before the race starts. He hardly looks scared this year. I think the wet suit makes him brave, like he thinks he's Batman, or something.

Can't get enough?