Sometimes I like to tell people that I’m from Arkansas. I realize that’s not usually the place that most people want to claim as their origins due to so many cousin marrying cousin jokes. However, I love that place.
Yes, that state has some really gorgeous parts to it, but that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about a little city called Cave City that some people in Arkansas don’t even know exist.
That’s the home of a good chunk of my family and one of my most favorite places on the planet.
This is where my Aunt Esther (Granny’s only sister) lives. Her three daughters, Brenda, Vernetta, and Vernece, all live with their families as well. And it gets better…they all live on the same giant piece of land! You can literally take a stroll down a dirt road and cross 1-2 cattle guards and be at a cousin’s house!
When we were growing up we would usually go up there to visit for a week in the summer, for Thanksgiving, and then for a reunion weekend every other October. Nowadays, we go just for the reunion weekend, which is now the first weekend of August.
I LOVE these reunions…but hate that they only last for 2 days and only come every 2 years.
So one of the things I most wanted to accomplish during this Year of Jubilee was a trip to Arkansas for some unrushed time with some of my most favorite people. And that’s just what I did!
I headed up the Monday before Easter and landed myself at Vernetta and Jeff’s house and stayed up late the first night talking life with Brett.
He and I spent the next afternoon on horses riding down the main road because you can do those sorts of things in the country without worrying about getting hit by a car!
On Wednesday Brett’s brother Jason and his wife, Amy, and there two whipper snappers, Corwin and Owen, came down to spend the week.
Let me just say that I’ve never met a boy more country than Corwin and because of that I think I fall more in love with him each time I see him. He taught me how to shoot a BB gun…and to never point at someone’s face!
On Thursday I hopped in the car and drove over to Jonesboro to spend some time with my cousin buddy, Kerrie, and her husband, Jeremy, and their little boy Jack.
Kerrie and I rarely get any time just the two of us…but this visit! Well let’s just say our cups runneth over!
Kerrie, Jack, and I headed back to Cave City on Saturday for the annual Easter egg hunt at Vernetta’s house. All of my cousins and their kids were there and I was in heaven!
There were races for eggs…
Climbing trees and seeing how far you could put a 1 and 5 year old up (while the parents of course stand by laughing and taking pictures)…
Colored bubbles...
That stained all the kid's t-shirts…
Real Easter bunnies…
Dying of eggs…
Me trying not to hurl when Owen decided he’d rather eat the hard boiled egg rather than dye it…
(No pictures because I was too busy gagging!)
Uncles helping nephews hunt for eggs…
Aunt Esther sitting on a porch for hours reveling in watching her family…
Cousins piled around talking for hours…
and of course lots of laughter!
I kept looking around at everyone and the house and thinking, “I love it here!” This is just another piece of home for me that I wouldn’t trade for anything.
I kept marveling in how amazing that feeling of belonging is. They love me for no other reason than because I originated from the same people they did. I don’t have to earn their love. I didn’t have to shower or put on make up each day. My clothes didn’t have to match. I didn’t have to constantly be carrying on a conversation. I just had to be there and I was loved. That’s family!
My family is redneck…and hillbilly…and have thick country accents…think its normal to buy chickens just to take Easter pictures with…take their 5 year old turkey hunting…use words like “prolly”…wears boots with every outfit…don’t lock their doors…and so many other things that make up why I love them so!
This trip is one of my most favorite things I’ve done this whole Year of Jubilee. I wouldn’t trade those days in Arkansas for anything else…and am especially looking forward to our first ever 3G Cousin Trip in August!
I can’t thank my grandparents and mom enough for making the time when we were kids to take us up there so often. Even though we only went a couple of times a year, I feel like I grew up with them in a way. Not everyone is that close with their extended family…just one more reason why I’m a lucky girl!
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