Kleigh's New Glasses

Just so that everyone is aware, Kleigh got glasses yesterday. Here is a picture of him.

Family Reunion 2010?

Are Jim and Carla hosting next year's family reunion? I was thinking it was Linda's turn (and we were going to do it for her.) Just trying to tentatively plan ahead.

Back to the beginning !!

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http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=embed&saddr=Lauderdale+AL&daddr=Lowryville+Tn&hl=en&mra=ls&sll=34.996254,-87.963409&sspn=0.65361,1.053314&ie=UTF8&t=h&ll=34.98153,-87.88075&spn=0.326865,0.526657&z=11


Point A is Lauderdale Alabama, the birthplace of Solomon Joseph Despain (Mom's great grandfather) in 1823. Point B is Lowryville Tennessee, the birthplace of Solon Huff McGee (Dad's grandfather)in 1853. Both moved their families west and joined the church. Interesting that these locations are within 40 miles of each other.

What else do these points have in common? They are both within the mission boundaries of Andy's call to the Birmingham Alabama Mission- Spanish Speaking.
Congratulations Andy. Some good people come from this part of the country.

Thanks Monte and Heidi

The McGee Family Reunion held at Monte and Heidi's cabin. Rachel A has a nice post with more pictures.

The location was 5 miles off the paved road with the last one mile nearly straight up the side of the mountain with a path reminiscent of a road. If it had rained during our stay it would have been a disaster, so there was much prayer going on. Monte's brother called early Saturday morning to warn us of all the heavy rain along the Wasatch front, but while the thunder and lightening passed around us, we had hardly any rain and the roads stayed safe and passable. The count this year was about 33, although some people left before the last people arrived. The Saturday dinner was great with ham and turkey cooked by the experts Jim and Monte.

Highlight for us was Dan coming from Philadelphia with his friend Elaine who nearly won the overall Horseshoe competition.

Of course one other miracle was that Melody was able to attend a short 4 weeks after her open heart surgery. She also made a great showing in the horse shoe competition and gave no indication that she had any physical limitations. Of course she had a priesthood blessing before her surgery.

Please add pictures and your own comments to help document your experience this year.

Thanks again Monte and Heidi for hosting.

Family Pictures

Aunt Myrna sent me some more Family History. In looking through I found a few new pictures I hadn't seen before. This is a family portrait of Samuel Kendall Gifford and his family. We had individuals cut from this picture but this has them in context.

Front Row: left to right: Samuel Kendall Gifford (GG Grandfather); Ursula Curtis Gifford (2nd wife); Cornelia Gifford; Alpheus Gifford (our GGrandfather)
Back Row: Oliver DeMille Gifford, Lora Ann Gifford, Freeborn DeMille Gifford, Adelia Mariah Gifford, Moses Elias Gifford. Picture probably taken in the late 1880's or 1890's as the youngest shown here with a moustache was born in 1869.

John A Maynes and his wife Selina J Maynes

I am learning how to use Google Clips: You can click on the picture to see the whole article.

From the LDS Biographical Encyclopedia

Seems like Yesterday

Happy Anniversary Michele!
10 years. Sure went by fast. You make life very happy.
Thanks for sharing.
Love Larry

McGee Family Reunion Aug 14th-16th

Here are Monty and Heidi's official directions to the cabin (may be similar to mapquest minus the balloons)

• Head south on I-15
  
• Take Exit 258


• Head east on US 89


• Join onto US 6


• Head east to Price


• Go 57.5 miles


• Turn left at Highway 191


• (Call Monty 801-668-6614 or Heidi 801-668-6614 and Monty will meet you at the last balloon and lead you the rest of the way. We have good service, but in case he doesn't answer, leave a message with the time you're calling and where you are.)
  
• Go 15.2 miles
  
• At the top of the summit, Exit onto the dirt road, You will see balloons.


• Follow the balloons until the last balloon says stop


• If you've passed the sign that says Ashley National Forest, you've gone too far.

Here are some pictures of where you'll be staying.

Monty and I will be leaving Saturday Aug. 8th and staying until Sunday Aug. 16th. Those of you that want to come up are welcome. Just bring what you want to eat before our dinner on Friday night.

Now for the official schedule. (Food will be provided unless your name is listed to bring something.) Remember there is a $10 fee for families and $5 fee for singles to help cover the cost of food. :)

Friday Night Dinner 6:00 p.m.

Hamburgers, Hot dogs, Chips, Smores

Potato Salad(Betsy)

Fruit Salad (Carla)

Caesar Salad (Catie)

Saturday Morning Breakfast 8:00 a.m.

Pancakes, Bacon, Sausage, Eggs, Hashbrowns

Saturday Games 9:00 a.m.

Scavenger Hunt

Crafts for all

Horseshoes

Potato Sack Race/3 legged race/Suitcase race

Candy Bar Game

Card Games

Volleyball/Water balloon Volleyball

Croquet

Saturday Lunch 2:00 p.m.

Turkey

Ham

Stuffing

Corn on the cob

Rolls

Peach Cobbler (Jim)

Cherry Cheesecake (Mom/Grandma)

Green Salad (Betsy)

Pasta Salad (Catie)

Jello Salad

Family Games 3:00 p.m.

Skit in a bag

Mafia

Saturday Dinner 6:00-7:00 p.m.

Hot Dogs

Smores

We have located extra tents and sleeping bags. If you will not be bringing your own, please let us know what you need.

Speaking of 'Over the Hill'

We're looking to find the location of the Family Reunion. Heidi told me Sunday she'd put a link up on the Blog so we could look for it ourselves, but still no word from her. The closest I can figure out is that it is somewhere off of this road. Heidi and Monte, can you point us closer?

Where is Monte and Heidi's cabin?

Dan will be flying in late Friday from Philadelphia so we want to have driving directions all figured out before we go.

Thanks for your help.

Larry

Over the Hill

Today is Dad's 50th Birthday.  We just wanted to wish him a happy birthday.  This picture is from my trip to Alaska.  I think he would rather i used this one than the one with the pink apron.  

Hope you have a great birthday!!!

Love,

KC, Jenn and Kleigh