Family Reunion

We recently got back from a wonderful reunion of my brothers at Nags Head, NC. It was a great week spent visiting and just catching up with each other. There were 20 of our immediate and extended family there for most of the week and then I also got to spend time with my best friend for a time too. My brother Rick and his wife Donna handled all the arrangements and Donna did so much extreem couponing that she had most of the food to bring with her. She is amazing. She even did some of the food preparation before hand. Donna made this salad with chicken and rice noodles and toasted almonds tosses with raw spinach and a home made dressing that was to dye for! There were people that volunteered to cook each night and there were so many that did that I didn't even need tocook. It was so relaxing for us. It seemed like I was so lazy!!! Even though we live not far from my brother Bob and his wife Robin, we do not get the opportunity to see them very often so it was great to be with them for the week. Robin took the "ladies" who weren't going out on the boat to fish out for a nice lunch and that was a very nice treat. Robin and Helen and I had a chance to run out and shop for while to one day. I picked up a stainless collendar for Tara and Lee at a great price. Pete and Helen are always great to be with! Pete has such a sense of humor and Helen can really cook! She fixed lasagna and our grandmother Gay's Sweet and Sour Chicken. Which got rave reviews! They also brought with them something else which made the trip so enjoyable! That was their daughter Stephanie...and her twin daughters...Kendall and Madison. Talk about the best mom! Oh, what dedication, and she is right there whenever those girls need her. It is so apparent those girls will be whatever they want to acheive. With Stephanie for a mom and Pop Pop and Grandma how can they not! They sure are two blessed children. Stephanie is always on the go and always including the children. If she goes for a run so do the girls. If she goes for a bike ride, so do the girls. She is such a fit and healthy mom and so are the girls. I can't wait to watch them grow up. They are so adorable and so is mom. Mitch and Pamela smoked a tenderloin one day all day and everyone enjoyed it that evening. Everyone could not stop raving about it. Mitch is such a wonderful addition to the family and so much fun to get to know. Not just because he can smoke a piece of meat but because he is a kind and considerate man that is so thoughtful and sensitive to everyones needs. I picked up on that right away. Pam you picked a good one there! Crystal and Eric also are newly weds and Crystal is so sweet and she was a joy to get to know more. We sure are lucky to have these two newest members to add to the Knowles` family. Crystal made this yummy spaghetti and even went and got gluten free pasta so I could eat it. It was so yummy. She served bread and extra virgin olive oil infused with different things for people to dip their bread in. Oh and Eric made Sangria to go with the meal. Talk about a good dinner. It was so much fun to see our Lee and Tara interact with their cousins now that they are adults. Lee cooked Mother's Day breakfast. He did a good job. Especially since everyone got up at different time. Good job honey. And of course it was so great to see my grandkids after a year. Oh how they have grown. I was so glad they were invited and they could come for the few days they were there. It is always a joy to get to spend time with Tara, she is just like a daughter to me. I feel so close to her she couldn't be any more of a daughter to me than my own is. I love her so very much. One morning Donna decided we all needed to go our front and she had a plan she had these cards and she placed each family in an area in the sand. We were to all make sand castles. We were to build a family tree. What fun it turned out to be. It was hysterical. The brother's and my castle looked a bit pathetic. Then our children's looked so much better. Then the grandchildren's looked even better. There were lots of photos taken and much fun was had by all. A friend of Mitch's came down and took a photo for us of the whole family, I can't wait to see it. On Thursday toward the end of the week, my best friend Sandy drove down all by herself to spend the last days with me. We got up on Friday and spent the whole day together just driving up the main road and stopping in at interesting shops. We only made it to 3 stores and bought very little. But we had wonderful conversations and got to see each other for the first time in over a year. "We just picked up where we left off". As we will do the next time we get together. I am so grateful for the time we had together. So the Knowles reunion was a great success. Thank you all brothers....for a wonderful time and the memories we will hold deep in our hearts.