Maggie made this picture for her doctor, who put it on an easel in her waiting room.  I sure enjoy all my childrens' artistic talents!  Anna made the birthday card.  I should've gotten a picture of that.

 Allen wanted to build a bigger antenna tower for his ham radio, so we drove over to Grandad's farm to cut down 20' pieces of bamboo.  I was so sure we'd hit a mailbox or something but we made it home safely.

 My friend, Susan, posted this picture on facebook.  I love it!  I'm not sure I agree with this but I do know I can never bear to sew something for fun if I know there is mending to do.  Thanks for sharing, Susan.

 I bought a bottle of this V8 Splash Smoothies to try for fun.  Ruthie had a great idea...she added a little cornstarch to it and heated it up.  This made a delicious pudding! 

 On Sunday night we had a Fellowship Night in our home with 17 guests.  We had so much fun that we had a hard time unwinding.  Instead we stayed up too late playing Hearts.

 Here's a picture of Lizzie's mishap of falling out of the pool.  She is SO fortunate she didn't snap her neck!  PTL

 Our church has a VBS play each summer for the VBS children.  Then the 5 days of skits get combined into one long play for the church family.  I took lots of pictures...but this is the only non-blurry picture.  Maggie, Shirley and Nathan.  As you can tell, it was funny.

 Maggie had fun making this Belle cake for a cute little friend's birthday party.  Looks great, Maggie!

My children went over to Grandad's to go swimming...and found a bunch of firemen putting out a fire in Grandad's front yard! Evidently a fire from a few days earlier had decided to come alive again. Fortunately my nephew, Dustin, saw it from the highway and came to the rescue. 

 I like this picture of Ranger staring into the sunlight.  I posted this picture on facebook and then asked for suggestions for a caption.  My favorites:

1. Oh what a beautiful morning!
2. Not sure, but it looks like they're finally changing the litter box!
3. They're calling again... I will come when I am ready!

The third caption is my favorite from my friend, Dan.  That sounds just like Ranger!

Lizzie and Ruthie went to the little regional airport nearby for free plane rides.  

 They had a wonderful time.  The pilots took more than 150 children flying that day!

 Another party with Anna's friends from church.

Out in the boonies I found a home with lots of commercial gas station signs.  I thought this was interesting.

Still playing lots of Settlers of Catan.  We've outgrown this version and need to buy the bigger version. 

We're keeping busy.  The public school children started back to school this week while I am trying hard to enjoy our last week of summer.  The night time temps are dropping into the mid 60s...which is why are pool temps are in the mid 70s.  Cold!

We still need rain.  The drought is getting worse.

Many blessings ~ Kathie

Take the world, but give me Jesus,
All its joys are but a name;
But His love abideth ever,
Through eternal years the same.

Oh, the height and depth of mercy!
Oh, the length and breadth of love!
Oh, the fullness of redemption,
Pledge of endless life above!

77th Annual Graham Reunion

Our family made the trip to PA this summer to attend our annual family reunion.  We stayed at a hotel for 2 nights enjoying the pool and hot tub.  

On Saturday morning, Anna directed us to this flea market she saw.  We had lots of fun shopping here...great prices!  I'll have to do another post on our purchases.

 The reunion was held at the same spot it is usually is held since 1935...Pavillion #9 at Shawnee State Park. 

 I know a lot of these pictures are redundant...but my Dad was unable to attend, so I took these for him.  Dad got a pacemaker the week before the reunion, so he was in no shape to go.  We sure missed you, Dad!

 Here's the traditional coffeepot that is passed on to the hosting family each year.

 The games were fun.  My cousins EmmyLou and Bob hosted.  There was the hoola hoop game where everyone stood in a circle holding hands...and then had to pass the hoola hoop around the circle.  I should've taken more pics but I was busy catching up on my relatives' lives.

The sponge game required soaking your sponge with enough water to fill the team's cup.  Thank you Bob and EmmyLou for a wonderful time. 

BTW, Bob and EmmyLou have another new book published called, "From Great Men:  The Famous Ancestors Of Alice de Plumpton."  Looks like an interesting read!

This year was a different year for our extended family.  First, we got a new website.  Secondly, the last of the original 10 family members died this year.  Uncle George, the baby, passed away in May.  Our reunion turnouts have been getting smaller each year.  Everyone was wondering how much longer we will be meeting.

 Our family has enjoyed camping at the park and we always chose the same spot across from the bath house.  We hope to do that again some year.  Anna was anxious to spend a lot of time at the lake.  I'll have to get her pictures of the lake.

 After the reunion, we traveled the half hour to visit my great grandmother's birthplace.  Sarah Holler Graham was born and raised in this log cabin.

 My cousins live there now.  They were very gracious to let me take pictures.  I like the rafters...

 ...the fireplace...

 ...and the original wood flooring.  The cabin was built in the 1820s.  My cousins said they had to replace the chinking...which contained pigs' and horses' hair. 

 Here's the front of the cabin.  I remember my late Aunt Esther telling me she remembered one of the reunions when 28 people spent the night in the cabin.  She said there were sleeping bodies everywhere on the floors!  Good memories.

 Next we drove 2+ miles down the street to my Dad's childhood home.  (Thank you cousin Allan for taking us there...we would never have found it...being so hidden in the woods!)  Here's the wood shed.

 Back of the house.  I see my pictures are all out of sorts.

 The shed/mini barn.

 Dad said this is the 2 room shack that was built for Max.  Evidently Max used to live with Dad and Grandad but he always made a mess when they were gone.  So this was built for him.

 The water hole.

 Complete with snake!

 I was curious if the outhouse is still in use.  I will have to ask my cousin if the house has been updated with indoor plumbing.  He is friends with the current owners.

 Seeing the two homes kept me in a sentimental mood all day.  I kept imagining my Dad growing up here.  We have few pictures of his childhood.

 This picture shows the army reserves buying gas next to the hotel.  Mike took our children down to get a tour of the interesting vehicles.  They were very friendly!

 We drove home on Sunday but dropped Mike off in Baltimore to meet his brother Glenn so they could drive up to NJ for their Uncle Bill's funeral services.  They enjoyed two days of seeing their extended family.

We came home to find half of Allen's tilapia floating on top of the tank.  We still don't know what happened.  Allen quickly filled up the stock tank and put the surviving fish inside.  Ranger walked around the perimeter and then decided a tilapia dinner was not worth a swim.

Lizzie fell chin first out of the pool tonight while trying to retrieve the vollyball.  Her face is swollen with a bloody nose.  Makes me queasy to see!  Maggie is setting her up with an icepack and a cold smoothie. 

Many blessings ~ Kathie