Family Weekend

First pay no attention to date on picture, change it and it goes right back to this.

July 4, 2010...annual reunion.....this year we had 13 tents, 30 people and 9 dogs.

Pic 1- We say goodbye to Gary in the place of his choosing. Billy is waiting to take one last swim with his grandpa, by the rock where Grandpa liked to show off his cannonball dive.

Pic 2- the most popular site at a campout....the Outhouse.

Pic 3 - some of the tents

Pic 4 -camping: the only place a little girl can get dirty and no one cares.

Pic 5- upper end of swimming hole -Little Piney Creek, Johnson Co. Ar.

Pic 6 - lower end of swimming hole. Creek was up 1 ft from all the recent rains so there was lots of water.

Our family started gathering at our camp ground on Thursday , July 1, coming from SC and Texas. This year's campout was to be extra special. Gary was coming to stay. His request before he died in March was to be brought on the annual camping trip and to remain there.

It was hard without him for he was the camp cook. But the children rallyed around their mother and everything went smoothly. On July 4 we said our goodbyes, knowing that he will be there when we return. Before the cabin was burnt we had Thanksgivings and Beasley reunions there. This land is special as it came to my family before the Civil War when my great grandfather and his new bride moved into the first handhewed cabin in the area. My grandfather and my daddy were born just across the fence. Four great uncles homesteaded by their father and the log cabin built by one of them still stands just past the swimming hole. My sons and grandsons learned to hunt and fish here. It has always been special but now a loyal Texan son-in-law who loved Arkansas enough to move here years ago, has made it even more special.