Branson Family Vacation 2011

My Mom has taken my sisters, myself and our husbands on several wonderful trips, but this was a first for her to also include our children and grandchildren in a vacation.  There were 25 total.  We are all so appreciative of Mom's generosity and love for her family.  We stayed in three beautiful cabins in Branson, Missouri for 4-1/2 days and had lots of fun!

We had six "kiddos" amongst us.  Here is a picture of five of those.  Zachary was off playing elsewhere and didn't get in the picture.  From top of stairs, left to right:  Lincoln Goering (Kaye & Rob's grandson); Lainey-Bug (Jeff and I's granddaughter); Madyson, Tristan and Cooper (Bev & Don's grandchildren):

One of the days, we rented two pontoon boats and had a great time on Tablerock Lake:

This baby raft was great for Laine (and Tristan). 

On another day, we went to see the magic show, Kirby Van Burch:

Was trying to get a picture of DeDe and Lainey-Bug's flower bows

Erika wasn't able to stay all weekend with us, but did drive up for Saturday and joined us at Kirby as well as for dinner at the Landing.  We sure missed Josh who was overseas working.

Eating at the Landing at Famous Dave's

And then one day, we went to Silver Dollar City (and it was HOT!).  But we had fun nonetheless!

Three brave souls that rode one of the roller coasters:

Lainey's first amusement park ride :-)

Using a water bottle/fan to cool the Bug off....

At the Dog Stunt Show.....

The next 3 pictures were taken the morning of July 4th before we headed home:

Great Grandma and Laine:

Rachel and Andy have both diligently been losing weight.  I know it has been very hard but so proud of what they have accomplished! 

We enjoyed having Jonathan McCrary, Rachel's boyfriend, join us for the weekend.  As many of you know, Rachel went thru a very difficult time in her life in 2010 with a divorce, relocation, new job, etc.  As her Mom, I'm so excited for her to once again be experiencing joy and happiness.  Hopefully, spending time with our family didn't scare Jonathan off :-).  We are especially thankful for his Christian walk with the Lord, his godly family, and his kindness and care for our girl. 
Thanks, Jonathan!

I am sorry I didn't take more pictures during our weekend and especially that we didn't make a greater effort of getting family pictures of each family and one large family picture.  Doggone it!!

Our time in Branson ended on a sad note.  My niece's husband, Nathan Tunnell, ended up in the Springfield hospital where he remains even today.  He was diagnosed with ITP, which is a blood disorder disease where you lose all your platelets.  It can be a very dangerous disease since you need your platelets to clot your blood to keep you from bleeding to death.  We are so thankful that it was caught before he harmed himself in any way.  The Tunnell's live in Austin, Texas, so Springfield, MO is a long way from home.  As of today (July 7), his platelet count is going up and prayerfully he will be going home very soon.  We do appreciate all the prayers that have been offered up on his behalf!

  With two more babies on the way and most probably several more babies in the next few years, it probably will be our one and only time to all do a vacation together, so it makes our Branson time even more precious to us.  I do love my family and thank the Lord every day that each one has a personal relationship with the Lord and are active in their local churches.

Again, thank you, thank you to Mom/Grandma for providing this wonderful family time for us.