Tennessee part 2

July 4th - the Parade. My dad was on a float in it playing the trumpet.

In the afternoon we had a cookout, lived through a "gust-nado" in which a tree in our backyard was blown down, and made ice cream.
Here's Matt and my dad cooking through the storm.
Matt, mom, Alex and Mandy making ice cream...all the kids took turns.

Sat July 5th - We had a picnic at the park.It was a brand new, handicapped accessible park that was really nice...Here's Mike, Kristi and Andrew vs. Matt, Haven and Sarah. They were trying to make it as even as possible.

On the other side of the park was a lake with paddle boats. The kids had fun playing in the water.That evening we took a little trip to Virginia(only about 20 minutes from us) to a place called Carter's Fold. There they have live country music(the old timey style) and a dance floor. Everyone sits in these stadium seats to watch, while some clog or dance on the dance floor, which is open to anyone. Sarah dragged me down after the first song. It was a little embarrasing for me, but after awhile more people got involved and it turned out to be really fun.

July 6th Sunday we went to church. It was so great to see people I hadn't seen in 12 years! At home we had curley noodles(a tradition), and just relaxed. We were staying at Mandy's house so Clint took the kids there to relax, while I stayed with my parents. We had 30 people coming and going so my kids liked to take refuge at Mandy's every now and then.July 7th was a free day. My family went to see WallE which was very cute. Then Clint wanted some authentic southern BBQ. Everyone decided to come with us for that. These are some of the 17 grandkids present at the reunion.Clint enjoying his BBQ. He just takes it straight:-)
July 8th - This was our last day. Our plans changed several times, but we eventually ended up going to Bristol Caverns...a natural underground cave. It took us 180 feet underground, and was very neat. This was the wishing rock. It had been worn smooth by being touched by so many hands. It was the only rock people were allowed to touch. (Think of the germs!)
After the tour of the caverns, the kids bought bags of dirt and then mined them for precious stones and arrowheads etc. Each bag was guaranteed to have gems in them. This was probably the highlight of the trip for them.
In the evening Grandma Melba treated us all to dinner at the Golden Corral. Thanks grandma!
Sarah won a prize from one of those machines with the hooks that no one ever wins. She was very excited about that.
In all, we had a fabulous time. I am so grateful we were able to make the trip. We were missing Moroni and Deb, and John and Claire. Congrats to Deb for having her baby, Madelyn! But it was so wonderful to see everyone else.
I even got to spend some quality time with my old friend and roommate Kathy. Isn't she so cute? I was really embarrased by this picture because I look so fat, but decided to post it anyway.
And was able to visit with Judy Wampler who also looks so cute. She's my friend Marcie's mom. Marcie wasn't in town so I didn't get to see her.
Anyway, the ride home was uneventful, but once we returned we took Josh and Michael in for walking pneumonia because they coughed all the way home.


The kids enjoyed the hot tub at the hotel in Laramie WY. The pool and hot tub were so filthy, I just had to close my eyes. The kids didn't notice and thought they were in heaven! And that's all, finally!