Show Me State

Hey y'all it's Mary!

I had a very eventful past few days & decided to fill you in on what all went on.  This past weekend was the bi-annual Snyder Family Reunion in Carthage, MO(The Snyder's are my maternal grandmother's side of the family).  My family tries to go when we can, but there's usually something going on & we have to miss it.  This year, however, we got to go!  I was really excited to catch up with family that I hadn't seen in years!  My mom thought it would be fun to keep us coming to the reunion a surprise, so for weeks leading up to it she would tell my grandparents that we couldn't make it.  We packed up the car Saturday morning & hit the road!

Side story:
My 24th birthday was a couple of weeks ago.  Jennifer & I usually celebrate our birthdays together, but with Jennifer in Atlanta & me in Texas that was not possible this year.  We were talking the night before I headed to Dallas to celebrate & we decided I would make a "Flat Jennifer" to take with me & take pictures with so she could feel like she was there...so I made one & EVERYONE loved it!  I'll post about my birthday later, but I just wanted to fill you in on Flat Jennifer.

Original Story cont.:
I drove the whole way to & from Missouri(because mom is a scary driver).  Our first stop was at the TX/OK border.  I couldn't resist taking this picture with Flat Jennifer:

We look great EVERYWHERE we go!

After LOTS of driving, we made it to the reunion dinner & surprised everyone!  One of my distant cousins prepared a family history & it was interesting to find out a little about us.  The Snyder's originally came from Kentucky.  I was excited to hear this because I was born in Kentucky.  We also found out that much of our family fought in the civil war.  After the presentation I caught up with family.  I met a lot of my cousins' children which was weird but exciting at the same time.  It was crazy to see these kids that you used to play with now chasing after kids of their own!  I met a lot of my Mom's cousins that I hadn't met before.  Two of her cousin's actually live in North Texas, & one of them works in McKinney!  It is great to have family so close!  We ended up staying in a hotel the first night because my grandparents weren't expecting us & their house was full of family. 

Sunday, we woke up & went to church at Centerpoint Christian Church(my mom's childhood church).  A lot of the church is family so it felt just like a continuation of the night before.  I was excited to meet my cousin Ben's fiancee Lacie.  They've been engaged for a while now, but we've never met.  It was great to finally put a face to the name.  I surprised my grandparents by singing.  When I got up to sing I almost started laughing, because everyone in the congregation whispered "She looks just like Judy!(my mom)".  After a wonderful sermon from Pastor Bob Teegarden, we all went down to the river for a picnic & swimming.  There were so many people there & it was just nice to relax & catch up. 

Gran & I at the picnic...I love her sunnies!!!

Probably the funnest part of the day was when my cousins pulled out the potato guns!  It was a blast!  We ended up calling my dad(who was away at a camp) & convinced him to make us some of our own!  I can't wait to have one!  I'm gonna sit on my back porch & launch potatoes onto the golf course...well, maybe not, but it sounds fun!
 

Shooting the potato guns!

Flat Jennifer & I at the river

Flat Jennifer & I at Silver Dollar City!

Monday, we hit the road to Branson, MO to spend the day at Silver Dollar City!  I was so excited for this because I hadn't been in over 14 years!  We were worried when we got there though because the weather wasn't supposed to be good.  We ended up getting rained on for most of the morning, but it was actually a blessing because most people ended up leaving the park, so when the rain finally stopped, there were no lines for any of the rides & it wasn't too hot!  My brothers & I rode most of the roller coasters...I chickened out on one.  I'm still not too sure about the ones that go upside down.  Anyway, the day ended up being really fun! 

We love crayons!!! (ignore the typo)

Reckless Kelly in Springfield!

As we were leaving, I checked facebook on my phone(My grandparents have no signal because they live in the middle of no where so I was excited to be able to check my phone for once!) and one of my favorite bands, Reckless Kelly, posted about a show they were having in Springfield that night.  I was SO upset because we were currently 20 minutes from the concert, but my grandparents lived an hour away.  I talked to my mom about it & she let me borrow the car for the night so I could go!!!  SO EXCITED!  We booked it home so I could change & get back on the road to get to the concert.  It was AMAZING!!!  Even though I was by myself it was TOTALLY worth it!  Tuesday was just a lazy day.  We went to the local Memnnonite store to stock up on some yummy food & headed back down to the river for another picnic with just my grandparents.  It was great to lay by the river & relax!  My brothers taught me how to skip stones & my grandma fished.  I ended up getting a HORRIBLE sunburn & the worst places but it was worth it!  I'm definitley a country girl at heart!

Wednesday we hit the road back to Texas...nothing exciting...just driving.  I'm glad to be back, but it was SO wonderful to spend so much time with family!!!

God Bless Texas!