The Bland Clan: Alabama

We went to Alabama for a family reunion June 12-17th. We had a wonderful time. This was the first time that Chris had ever gone with me so it was a very special time and I was excited for him to me

et my extended family(what is left of them anyway). We rented a house in Grant, AL and mom and Vickie stayed with us and so did Eddie and Ben, for two days at least. The reunion for the Justice family was at Guntersville State Park. The picture doesn't do it justice(no pun intended), but maybe you can catch a glimpse of how beautiful it was. Lake Guntersville

While there we did a lot of visiting and had such a wonderful time. Stephanie and Katie both got to hold pet goat while we were there(only in Alabama!!!). Katie was able to feed it, but he wasn't much interested by th

e time Stephanie tried.

On Friday night we started the reunion off with a cook-out. The girls had a good time spending time with Madelyn and Julia and they all played on the playground. It was nice to get to spend time with some of the cousins that live near mom, but we never get together with.

Aunt Jean, Madelyn &Katie

Chris and Uncle Ron Sissy & Ben

On Saturday we returned to the State Park for the second part of the Justice reunion. We all got together and had lots of good food and a time to catch up with each other. It was sad though because the only remaining sibling is Aunt Jesse Mae.

After we ate, those of us with younger kids(France and I) headed over to the pool. We were later joined by a lot of our family. The pool was very nice and had a zero depth part which was nice for the little kids. We stayed out there for quite a while and the kids had a blast. It was nice to have this to break up the visiting as the kids were all getting 'visited out'.

Madelyn enjoying the pool!

Aunt Jean & Uncle Jack watching the kids play.

After we left the reunion, we headed to see Aunt Naomi. She wasn't able to come because of difficulty walking and she admitted that it was just too hard for her emotionally. She misses Uncle Britton terribly as do all of us. Aunt Naomi

Sweet baby!

We had a good visit with her and it was nice to all be there with her. Katie was asleep the whole time and I had to actually put her in Aunt Naomi's lap to finally get a picture of them.

The Gang! Our next stop was to visit Uncle Bruce and Aunt Christine. This was a great visit as always. When we got there, Aunt Christine was making their supper...frozen $.50 pizzas!!! This is very different from the past as Aunt Christine was always cooking something. She usually tries to feed us and starts pulling everything out of the fridge and throwing it on the table.

Visiting with Uncle Bruce and Aunt Christine was always one of our favorite things to do as kids. Aunt Christine was so fiesty and high strung and Uncle Bruce so laid back. It was quite entertaining. They have both mellowed out, but you can still catch glimpses of that spunk.

Me & Uncle Bruce Ben, Uncle Bruce

& Eddie

They are doing well despite getting older and it was so good to see them. They doted over the girls, and the girls opened up very well to them. We thouroughly enjoyed our visit.

Katie & Stephanie with Uncle Bruce The last big even of the trip was the Bright reunion. Mom planned this even and it was held at Brashers Chapel, the church that Uncle Bruce and Aunt Christine attend and where we always go when we are visiting. We provided the desserts for the reunion and we just prayed people would come. It turned out to be so good. There was a great turn out and mom did a great job planning it. Uncle Bruce and Aunt Gracie are the last living relatives on the Bright side and it was a very emotional, but good time for them.

We had a great vacation and I am so glad that we went. While it was sad to see everyone aging, I am so glad that we went. I have always loved Alabama and was thrilled to share this special memory with my family.