FAMILY REUNION IN HILLSVILLE

The Grimes family descended from Ann's mother, Bernetha Grimes Schlegel, has a long-standing tradition of getting together for visits.  Twenty members of our family, spanning 3 generations, recently gathered in Hillsville for a mini-family reunion.  Family members traveled from Tennessee, Texas, Florida, Indiana, and Pennsylvania for two days of visiting.  We met at the RV resort to begin our visit.

There are four components to a good time whenever our family members gather.  One is good conversation.  John, Laura's husband, is talking with John and Alice Ann Dinger, Ann's cousins, who live in Denver, PA, where Ann grew up. 

Paul is talking with Kathy and Lyn, Ann's sister and brother respectively.

Kelly with Astrid and Kim with Kate discussing "sister talk."  Kelly and Kim are two of Kathy & John Mack's daughters.  We were thrilled to be meeting their young children, who we had seen in pictures on Facebook but had never met in person.

Ann and Leo chatting.  Leo is Kim's oldest child.

The second component is good food.  We rented a pavilion at our campground for this two-day party.  Our 4 grandchildren are enjoying some pizza.  From left to right: John, Amelia, Jack, and Henry.

Here is a plate of some Pennsylvania Dutch delicacies that we all crave.  Ring bologna - a sausage made at a local butcher shop in Denver.  Potato chips fried in lard - not healthy but taste so food.  And Pennsylvania Dutch thick pretzels - good with a cold beer!

A third component is lots of things to do.  Paul and Ann are taking the 3 grandsons for a ride in a golf cart.  Henry is sitting between Grandma and Grandpop, while Jack is behind Ann and John is behind Henry.  

Our campground has two large swimming pools and two 400 ft. water slides.  From left to right: Alice Ann Dinger, daughter Laura, Jack, and son-in-law John.

Laura, John, Penny (Lyn's wife) and Lyn look down at the water slides from the pool deck cabana.

Jack and Paul just landing in the bottom pool after riding down the Black Momba waterslide.  You can tell by our faces that we loved the ride.

Penny teaching our 4 grandchildren the intricacies of making bubbles.  Penny, John, and Amelia are using a bubble wand while Henry is blowing bubbles.

The last component is game playing.  Lyn and Amelia strategizing during a game of "Blokus".

 
Penny, Alice Ann, John Mack (Kathy's husband), Wendy, and Amelia playing the card game "Hands and Feet" while Lyn looks on.

Lyn giving advice to Wendy and Amelia.

John and Ann playing cards with Henry at the Fancy Gap cabin that Wendy and Laura's family rented for the week.

The last evening, everyone gathered at the Fancy Gap cabin where there was lots of room to spread out and enjoy an evening meal together.  Fancy Gap is a "blink or you will miss it" village right off the Blue Ridge Parkway not far from Hillsville.

With not much parking at the cabin for our extra cars, we tried to put them in a nearby area that looked solid. But It had rained enough in the afternoon to make the ground muddy.  Oops!  John Mack got his car stuck.  The family came to the rescue and pushed the car out,  with John B., Paul, and John Mack pushing and Kathy at the wheel.  Notice the boards underneath the front and rear tires to try to get some traction.

Four couples gathered to play a version of the "Newlywed Game" even though each couple had been married at least 40 years.  Laura is reading the questions on the cabin porch with North Carolina in the background.  Lots of laughs, and we seemed to know our spouses pretty well.

The rental cabin was located on the Blue Ridge Mountains, with a stunning view of the North Carolina valley below.  Stormy weather rolled in during the Newlywed Game, giving us some amazing views of storm clouds preceding a passing storm.

Part of the last night celebration was for Ann and Paul's 45th anniversary.

Our 4 grandchildren posed for a photo with Ann and Paul on the last morning.

We are so appreciative of all of our relatives traveling to Hillsville so we could enjoy each others' company.   We love that our children brought their children so we could get some "Grandma and Grandpop" fun time while we finish our summer work in Virginia.