Family Reunion

Imagine a place where Josh and Scott Duley are NOT the loudest ones in the room...

Hard to fathom?

There is only one such place where I witness this phenomenon... Duley family reunions!

Last week we got to go to Dunnellon, Florida for the '09 Duley Family Reunion. We left New Albany, made a quick overnight stop at Scott's mom's to pick up Sarah, and then headed across the panhandle and down to the Rainbow River.

The Rainbow River is not just any river. Scott's family lives right on the river, near the head spring, and the water is actually clear! Not just slightly brown... I mean really clear... as in, you can see the little fish swimming by and the rocks or seaweed on the bottom! There are houses all along one side of the river, but the opposing side has remained undeveloped. This provides a peaceful view of trees with Spanish moss, roosting birds, and even an occasional alligator!

the kids floating from Uncle Billy's dock down to Uncle John's

We arrived Friday afternoon, and the kids went straight to the river. They had not seen their cousins for three years, but you would never have known it! They all picked right up and did great all week long! We got to meet Scott's new Aunt Lisa and Scott's cousin Katie's husband Brian. (We had previously met Morgan's wife, Emily, but this was the first time to meet her as Mrs. Duley!) After introductions, visited for a while and then all had dinner together. We were all glad to get to see Scott's grandparents as well. Here are the kids with PawPaw George and Granny Sue.

Scott's cousin Becca did a lot of planning and organizing for this week. She coordinated with everyone a meal schedule; Each family was responsible for dinner one night. This worked out great, and it was nice to share a meal together each evening. Take one wild guess what I fixed... Mexican, of course! :) Thanks for all your work, Becca!

On Saturday we had the official family reunion. Aunt Connie had all sorts of crafts and things for the kids to do... even with little medals to give as awards! They painted tote bags, colored pictures, and played some games.

Hannah, Lauren (Stef's daughter) and Sarah doing crafts

Sarah, Josh, Will, Hannah, Lauren, and Mattie (Becca's daughter) with their awards... Scott's
brother Brian is in the background with his graduation award!

Remember, we ARE Duleys... I know you will not be shocked to know that the kids' games turned into arm wrestling and noodle wars... would you have expected anything less? Josh and Garret (Becca's son) arm wrestling

The adults kept it more on the mild side and played many rounds of Corn Hole.

Along with celebrating being together as a family, we also celebrated Scott's sister Stefanie's 40th birthday and Scott's brother Brian's recent high school graduation.

Katie cutting the cake after we all sang for Stef

Our host for the week was Scott's cousin, Jack, and his daughter Avery. Jack lives right across the road, and it was so nice to have a quiet place to put WORN OUT kids to bed each night. Jack's house kind of became the fun place to stay, and it was a hubub of cousin slumber parties. It was not a big deal, because the kids were all so pooped from the river that they went to sleep without any fuss!

Scott, Kevin, and Jack

Avery

I enjoyed going over and putting the kids to bed while Scott stayed to visit, because it meant I got a little quiet time all to myself each evening... in a house with TV channels! What a treat! Laughably, I got sucked into a show called "Clean House." I let the kids watch a few episodes with me, and we planned this big slumber party with popcorn and M&Ms for the season finale. Unfortunately, the people getting their house cleaned were not very hospitable, and their language was quite foul... we had to cut the slumber party a little short. Oh well, the kids didn't mind... they had gotten the popcorn and M&Ms! :)

Sunday morning we visited Springs Presbyterian Church in Dunnellon. We appreciated the God-centered worship service and the kindness of the members. It was interesting to find out that the church has worked with Palmer House Children's homes in the past, and they have just helped start a similar one in their own area. Some of the members had even been to Tupelo!
As we visited with the pastor and explained why we were in town, he said that he knew two of Scott's uncles. After a moment's pause, he remarked, "You sure look like a Duley." Can you see any family resemblance?

Uncle John, Bobby, Uncle Billy, Scott, PawPaw George

On Monday and for the rest of the week, we had lazy mornings (it was rainy), and then we spent the afternoons on the river and playing. As I am writing this post and adding pictures, I am realizing how self-cenntered I was in my photography. There are quite a few Duleys that did not make it into pictures! I am sorry! I am going to post some river fun pictures next....