Monday, April 20, 2009

Arkansas, Arkansas, I Just Love Ole Arkansas....

**2 Things to Note**
1. This post is really long.
2. Only my Dad and Brother will appreciate the title to this post. We collectively love the musical Big River, which holds the title of this post as one of its songs.
Okay, now on to the post...
A little background...last fall my first cousin Eleanor called me to let me know that she and her brother, Jason, were going to organize a surprise birthday party for their dad (my uncle), Jesse. Jason, also my first cousin and his wife, Hesi, and their girls, Lucy and Matilda, live in Austria, and my uncle had no idea they were making plans to visit the States. Somehow, everyone in our family and the whole town of Yellville, AR, kept it a secret for months, and my uncle was completely overwhelmed at the weekend! Needless to say, we have been anxiously awaiting this weekend for quite some time, and we had a such a wonderful time!!!
Myla was very glad to finally be out of the car after six hours! Friday night my dad cooked and everyone came over to his house for dinner. The kids had a blast playing outside.
Jayce (Eleanor's), Myla and Matilda playing.
Maggie, my sister, and her boyfriend, Jimmy.
Jason and Peyton.
We haven't seen Jason in years!! Peyton has seen him since I had, but I had never met his girls. Peyton and Jason are only a couple of weeks apart in age and have always been really close! So glad to have everyone together!
Aunt Maggie stealing all of Myla's kisses. Myla likes to give kisses "on the lips"!
Jayce showing off her dirty feet! She is one of the funniest kids I have ever been around!
Maggie and Matilda.
Matilda is such a ham for the camera. She loves to pose for pictures! She is the sweetest little girl. She speaks German, but she aslo understands everything in English. Multi-lingual kids amaze me!
Uncle Jesse and Matilda. He had not seen Jason or his family in several years! What a shock when he walked into Eleanor's house Thursday night for dinner and they were all sitting on the couch!!!
Lucy, Hesi (Jason's wife) and Matilda. Poor Lucy had chicken pox! She didn't feel well all weekend.
Uncle Jesse coming into the surprise party!
Jason, Hesi, and Eleanor
I love this picture!
Friday night, Uncle Jesse said he just needed a shirt that said "Clueless" because his whole weekend had been full of surprises. Well, my dad made him this shirt Friday night so he could wear it when he got to the party. He got the biggest kick out of it!
Henry thoroughly enjoyed Uncle Jesse's birthday cake....
as did Myla!
I was so glad that we were there this weekend, because it was Maggie's Junior Prom! She and Jimmy let us take plenty of pictures before they left.
This is Maggie's normal picture pose. I give her a hard time because in all of her pictures with her friends, she is always making the silliest faces. She did this just to humor me!
BEAUTIFUL!
Maggie has done something to her neck/shoulder/back so she had to wear this sling. She was a really good sport! She works at the flower shop, so they special made a corsage for her sling!
First cousins...
3rd Generation
Matilda, Lucy, Jayce, Peyton, Henry & Myla
Sunday we had lunch at a local pizza restaurant. Can you tell the game room was a little hectic?
2nd Generation...
Maggie, Me, Hesi, Jason, Eleanor, Jason and Peyton
2nd and 3rd Generations together!
Can you tell my family is crazy?
Myla telling Papaw bye before we left to come home.
Smiling for Macy!
It was so great to be with my family this weekend!

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