Aunt Cloie

My sweet Great-Aunt Cloie (age 90) passed away a couple weeks ago.  It was probably the most I've ever cried at a funeral.  It was a mixture of me getting older, more hormonal, and the sweetness of the service.  It was a family only graveside and her son, cousin Di, and her grandgirls spoke.  It was just the sweetest service.  Even then lady who worked for the funeral home came up and said she had never been to a nicer graveside service.  We will miss Aunt Cloie so much!

Charlie (her son) talked about how her death was the final chapter to the original Dumas family. She was the youngest of the family (my grandmother's sister) and she was the glue that held everyone together.  She made sure everyone was remembered, that everyone got together, and had a nickname for everyone.

She always made me feel special!  She even saved the bits of confetti I used to send in all my cards! How fun!  So, in honor of her I added confetti back to my Christmas cards this year!

Look at that little dish with confetti!

I still remember the little sombrero confetti I sent in my graduation party invites to Cactus Jack's!  I also remember that candy cane confetti from years ago, too!

After the funeral we all headed to the lake where Kathy setup some food and beverages.  Of course, there was a fire going in the fireplace...Aunt Cloie always had a fire going even if it was 80 degrees outside!  We were all laughing because none of us have 1st cousins on the Dumas side.  And we all only had 1-2 cousins total on our other side of the family.  Such a difference from the generation before us who has numerous 1st cousins!

me, Jenna & Katie (Aunt Cloie's grandgirls), and Abbie (Aunt Ethelyn's granddaughter)

The cousins minus Don!  Denny, Dad, Deebe, Susan, Charlie, and Dianne

The whole group!  Harold (in the center) was Aunt Cloie's "honeyboy" as she called him for the past 10 years.

We looked through some of her old albums and found some cool stuff!  Uncle Floyd was the commander of the 8th Air Force when it was located in Guam.  Aunt Cloie and Uncle Floyd hosted Queen Elizabeth!!

Uncle Floyd and Aunt Cloie are to the far right

Aunt Cloie with Queen Elizabeth!

I went through some old pictures and found these gems of that sweet lady!

SK meeting Aunt Cloie for the first time! (2014)

One of our many visits a the lake! (2012)

One of our crawfish boils!

Bennett's baptism (2009)

Fall get together in 2014 at Dianne's

My ladies tea party bridal shower that Aunt Cloie came to and declared "a labor of love!"  We still talk about that to this day!  I am wearing the pearls in this picture that Aunt Cloie gave me that were my grandmother's. (2007)

My Mexican fiesta graduation where came all the way to Ruston and gave me my grandmother's pearls (2004)!

Some of our favorite memories that were mentioned were:

• 4th of July family reunions at the lake
• her nicknames for everyone (my dad=Bill-gy)
• her feeding the raccoons in her backyard
• every person saying that she made them feel special in some way
• the cards she sent and the pictures she drew in them
• honking all the way down Lakewood with her standing on the porch waving until you couldn't see her
• She hosted a high school graduation lunch for me at Dominic's

Broken Bow Thanksgiving

We've been planning this trip to Broken Bow, OK for Thanksgiving since last Thanksgiving.  We got the great idea last year and wanted to go, but all the cabins were booked up.  Nana booked this beautiful cabin in January 2016 for our Thanksgiving!  

The cabin is so luxurious and just perfect for the family.  We could have even fit more people!  The fire ring, horseshoes, shuffleboard, and hot tub were so nice.  The kids had a blast as well as the adults!  I told Neil that I can't believe we've never been here considering it's only 3 hours from home.  This will be our go-to getaway location...I hope!

We brought the jeep and their bikes. 

We brought this remote control car that's been sitting in the closet and Bennett loved it!

So excited to be here!

Neil immediately got to work on the fire.  The cabin came with firewood, but it was green so the fire was hard to start.  That didn't stop Neil!

Horseshoes were a hit.

They kept getting stuck and would all have to help push it out.

The Fire Starter.

Rebecca did Sarah Kathryn's make-up a couple times and they both thought it was the best thing ever.

Neil and Daniel

Lots of snuggling together with the iPad. 

These boots are her favorite!!

SILs

The fire was so nice.

YAY!   A family picture by the fire.

Brother/Sister

Me with my biggest boy

Hot-Tub Turkeys!  Neil went to get Henry's bathing suit on and he couldn't find it.  Neil told Henry to just wear his undies.  Henry was naked and said "I don't want to wear my underwear in the hot tub, I'm going to ask Mom where my bathing suit is!" Naked.  Neil said "you will go outside naked, but you won't wear underwear in the hot tub?" yep.

Rebecca and Daniel made an apple pie and it only took 8 hours.  Here's Daniel slicing and peeling all the apples.

Crust making!

Making the lattice work

The pie looks exactly like the Southern Living recipe!

Time for the fun away from the cabin.

We went and rode a fun train through the state park.

It was so cute!

Henry fell asleep on the couch so we took turns holding him.  It's not everyday you get to hold a sleeping 5 year old.

We ate pizza at the delicious Grateful Head.  We had to sit outside so thankfully Rebecca has these hats for us to wear!  All the Lewis girls in one picture right here!

After the train, we split up in 2 cars and ended up just with Henry.  We took him to the look-out and it was nice to just spend time with him alone.  We learned that he needed to use the bathroom.  "I need to poop and pee...together...because they are friends." aight.

Our delish Thanksgiving meal!  Bennett took the pic and I look like a fat oompa loompa.

We took Bennett on the Duck boat!  We ended up going on the last ride of the year.  They won't go back out until March!

Bennett got to drive the duck!

Sweet Duck Selfie!

What a wonderful vacation!  It was so nice to get away and just relax and do whatever we wanted for a few days.  Neil said that if we would have been at home we would have been at home we would have felt like we had to do the yard, clean, or decorate for Christmas.  It was nice to have not 1 obligation.