The Neely Team

When the leaves started falling, Cocoa, Belle, ‘Berty, and I made a pile of leaves and jumped in it! We buried each other, rolled around in  them, and just had lots of fun together! I am glad that I have such sweet sisters that I can have fun with!

For Thanksgiving we had the privilege to go down to Bainbridge, GA, again to see Daddy’s mom and her husband. Daddy’s sister and brother-in-law met us there as well with their whole family!! With fifteen young people present that each possessed oodles of energy (by the way, an “oodle” is a form of measurement, at least by T.N.T. standards ), tons of joyful and special memories were made! We arrived late Wednesday evening, and then Thursday morning was packed with many games of volleyball, as our expert cousins taught us more about it and how to play better! (We are actually able to HIT  the ball now – a great improvement! Ha!) A few guests arrived later on, and at 2:00 we gathered together to spend time rejoicing in God’s goodness to us and enjoying a delicious dinner. Before doing so, we each shared something we were thankful for. A variety of answers were presented, some about material blessings and others about the incredible  character of our Creator and Savior. It was neat to hear from each person’s heart!

The rest of Thursday was spent playing football, “Duck, Duck, Goose,” and a few games in the dark. Friday, was little Miss Bethany’s birthday! Also, some    friends that Daddy and Aunt Miriam grew up with came over and brought their families so we could all meet. Much more volleyball was played while the parents talked, and then they saw that the kids were having so much fun that they decided to join us! How FUN! With well-balanced teams and excellent little score-keepers (namely Susanna and Lauren ), round after round was finished with different victors each time. (By the way, the names of the teams were “The Shrimps” and “The Giants.” Does that tell you anything about the physical stature of the people playing on them? ) That night, we were also able to get a tour of the fire station where our Uncle Blain works! That was fascinating and a lot of fun!

The Saturday after Thanksgiving finds “Swine Time” being held in the little community of  Climax, GA. We ended up chasing a pig! Check back soon, ‘cause we’re letting Jessi tell you ALL about that later. Just trust us – it will be hilarious!

When we got home from Swine Time, several of the cousins got together and washed all of the cars and trailers in the driveway. This time it was WET, COLD fun! The soup Mommy and Aunt Miriam fixed after that sure was good!

On Sunday, we all went to church, and after goodbyes, our two families were able to travel around 6 of the 8 hours of the trip together! We have done this several times before, and we have the tradition that we always get ice cream from Dairy Queen just before separating. Mmmmm! We  couldn’t seem to locate one, however, so we stopped at a store and bought 5 qts. of ice cream and a gallon of orange juice. After whipping out the ice cream scoop that we just happen to keep in our van for occasions like this, we stood in the parking lot and made “Orange Julius” shakes, as we call them. It was SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!!! After a group hug and several rounds of “goodbyes,” we all loaded up and headed back up the road towards home. We thank the Lord for such a joyful and encouraging time together as a family! God is good!

A few highlights of the week:

Amanda: “I can’t really say what my all-time favorite part was, because it was all so much fun!! We haven’t had much time with that side of the family in a LONG time, so it was FABULOUS to “re-connect” with everyone!! I also really enjoyed volleyball, football, talking, duck-duck-goose, eating, chasing the greased pig, staying up late talking to cousins, eating ice cream in the Wal-mart parking lot, and, well… everything!!!! I thank God for such a FANTASTIC weekend!!!!!!!

Kathryn: “My all-time favorite was volleyball! It was a blast to see and participate in the joy, enthusiasm, and teamwork that went on (as well as get enough practice so as to be able to hit it over successfully )! Another favorite memory was getting to stay up really late, laughing, encouraging each other, and playing games, with the cousins.”

Susanna: “My favorite thing was touring the fire station and keeping points for the volleyball games.”

Jessica: “Wow! It’s really hard to say what my absolute favorite part of our time in GA is! Since we hadn’t been with the Fleishers in about four years for a holiday, it was really neat to spend time with them for four days. Touring the fire station was fascinating, while volleyball was thrilling, staying up late and talking was refreshing, washing cars was a blast, eating ice cream in the Wal-mart parking lot was yummy, and the list could go on!! But what could I say about pig chasing??!! It was most likely one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences, and what wonderful memories! I’m looking forward to the next time we get to spend time together. This weekend was much needed and definitely a highlight for the year. Looking forward to next time, with or without pigs!!

Lauren: “My favorite was pig-chasing with my cousins and counting points for my volleyball team (my team was “The Shrimps”)! That was fun!”

Bethany: “I liked riding my new bike, chasing the pig, playing with Harrison’s stuffed-animal puppy, watching the creation movie, being Taylor’s buddy,and that’s all.”

Victoria: “I really enjoyed learning and playing volleyball with the girls and our cousins. I also enjoyed getting to chase the greased pig and getting to tour the fire house, along with just spending time with our family and making new friends. The memories that were made will always be something to look back on with joy.”

Hannah: “Playing with Davis and riding my bike was the best.”

Herman: “Chasing pigs, climbing the deer stand and getting good practice with it, and playing with our cousins was my favorite.”