Meet the Allen Clan!! Consider Yourself Warned!!

As most of you know, my family reunion was a

few short weeks ago up in the lovely Smoky

Mountains.

Family came from all over the U.S. and does so

every other year to honor the memory and legacy

of our parents.

This is where it all begins!! The Allen Clan siblings!!

(In the interest of time, please hold your applause

until the end! Thank You!)

From the right we are in birth order:
Steve and Randy fraternal twins, Cindy, Me,

Doug and Craig

We produced (but don't always claim) all of this:

There are 52 of us pictured and 4 weren't able to

join in the madness. As you can see we are

experiencing a baby boom! So many to cuddle!!

Our oldest Sam and her hubby Kris, and grandy Emily

Daddy and # 2 & #3 daughters,

Mallory and Brittany

Daddy and his harem!! Kristina, our niece is in

front of me. Don't you feel for this poor man with

all of these hormonal girls to deal with!! (truth be known...

he loves it!!)

Me and my wonderful sis. We are closer than close!

OK now that the intros are over, come share some

Allen Clan Corn with me!!

THIS IS ALLEN FAMILY IDOL!!

Steve was Ryan Seacrest, and did a great job!

My niece Tammy and her daughter sang a song

Tammy wrote for her brother's not yet born first

child. It was precious!!

My nephew Danny also wrote and sang a song for

his soon to be born son. He's very talented and

composed a wonderful song for my Mom.

Would you get a load of these 3?? They are my sister

Cindy, and my sister-in-laws Cindy and Pam. They

were all three on the same majorette squad in high

school. Cindy and Pam are married to my twin brothers

who at the same time were twin drum majors!! Some

rich history there!!

So they decided to dust off their old batons and put

together a routine for Idol. I must say that with only

a couple of practices they did a great job!! (In other

words...no one was harmed during their show!!)

My sis! She looks almost exactly as she did at

those games in high school!! She's the best!

Now here we have the "Chinettes" This all started

because me and my sis would lay like this on our

beds and totally crack each other up by talking and

singing songs upside down. It IS hilarious...don't make

fun...that's just not nice!!

This is Maddy and the face on her chin! She had

a blast doing this. They sang "Someday" by Sugar Ray

If you and your kids have never done this you need

to. It is so funny!!

We were seriously all in stitches!!

Did any of you see the movie Napoleon Dynamite?

Well, our Brittany (pictured above) had tremendous

pressure put on her to do her version of his famous

dance scene. Check it out on youtube if you haven't

seen it. Britt can do it perfectly, and with her Dad's glasses

on she looks like his sister.

In this picture she is trying to get into character.

Well, she decided she couldn't. Nope. No Napoleon.

The crowd began to chant...BIRD...BIRD...BIRD...WE

WANT BIRD!!! (Yes that is her nickname...long story)

She finally gave in and performed.

Believe me when I tell you that some of my family

were actually on the floor laughing hysterically!!

This is when the judges were commenting

Unfortunately no one got a good photo of

Randy, Simon and Paula.

This is my sister-in-law Deanna, my nephew Hunter,

and my cousin's daughter Becca. They donned the

pink boas and did karaoke to Car Wash!! My brother

Doug is doing sound in the background and smiling at

Deanna, his wife. They got the crowd energized!

At the end of the evening, no winner was chosen.

But we sure had fun!!

Sadly, though, my performance, which was post-idol,

was not captured on film. Deanna and I karaokeed

(probably not a word) to "I will Survive" We did hand

motions and really rocked it, but alas, no photos.

So there you have it. Give yourself a pat on the back

if you made it this far,

AND

feel free to clap now!!

More fun with the Allen Clan yet to come!! I know you

just can't wait!

Have a great day!

Love ya'll!!

Becky

Family Reunion in the Smokies Part 1

HAPPEE FRIDAY GREETINGS TO YOU ALL!!

Great News!! My car and computer are fixed!! It

did cost another $300 to fix the car, but oh well!

At least we have the money to pay for the repair!

GOD IS GOOD!!

Now for the long awaited, much anticipated

ALLEN FAMILY REUNION !!

Our reunions are every other year and each time

we go to Lake Junaluska which is operated by the

Methodist Assembly. The cottages around the

Lake are not owned by Junaluska, but many are

available to rent for a week minimum stay.

My Mom found this place many years ago through a

friend at my childhood church, and we all just fell

in love with it. If you are interested in a possible stay

there, the website is http://www.lakejunaluska.com/

We highly recommend it. It is just outside of Waynesville,

and just above the Maggie Valley. There's lots to do

at the lake and in all of the surrounding areas.

This is the amazing sunrise God painted for us
as we began our trip to North Carolina

GASP!! We're in the mountains!!

Us native to flat Florida REALLY appreciate
rolling hills and mountain views!!

This was quite a surprise! The description of our
cottage said it had a steep driveway, but we

thought it was a short steep driveway. This thing

was crazy high and long! The photos just can't

capture it!! And that is the lake in the far back

ground!! It looks like you will drive right into it!!

Here is a side shot of our cottage. We had the

upper two floors, and no one was renting the

bottom. It's 4 bedroom 2 bath, and the clincher

for me was the deck and view!!

This is the living room looking out to the deck

The evening we arrived it was 50 degrees!! We could

have turned on the fireplace but didn't!

This is the dining room and kitchen. Very nice size,

and well equipped. We just bring bed linens and

towels!!

Here is an outside shot of the deck. We were

amongst the trees and awakened to bird songs

each morning. Absolutely blissful!!

This is the first photo I took of the view from

our deck. I can't tell you how it blessed my soul

to sit out there and soak in the beauty

of God's creation.

Here is a morning view taken with my zoom

A lovely hydrangea that draped over the retaining

wall by our driveway. I'll show you more of the

delightful flowers at the lake in a later post.

Down in the Maggie Valley is a shop called

Maggie Mountaineer. Behind the shop is this

wonderful babbling brook. They have rockers out

there so you can sit and enjoy it! I could sit

there for hours!!

You can't visit the Smokies and not make

the trek out to see some of the incredible

waterfalls. This is Dry Falls, and there is

a walkway behind it. You can see some people

back there to give you a perspective of it's size.

That concludes Part 1 of our Family Reunion trip.

There will be at least 2 more parts.

Hope you enjoyed the view so far!!

~~~~~~~~

Have a glorious weekend, and remember to

praise God from Whom all

blessings flow!!

Love and Hugs,

Becky