30seconds.blogs.com: Family Reunion in Knoxville, Tennessee

What a weekend - we spent it with 23 relatives in Knoxville on the Tennessee River, playing hard. The weather was perfect for water sports - hot, with refreshing but warm water. Our kids had six second cousins to play with.

I went on ten kinds of watercraft in 2 days:

- canoe

- paddleboat

- pontoon

- speedboat

- inner tube pulled behind speedboat

- jet ski

- surfboard

- floating foam chair

- inflatable chair

- inflatable mattress

Wow! We very seldom do anything like this, so this was a real paradise, with wonderful, loving family. I am really blessed to have married into this group of interesting, welcoming, and kind people.

Did I mention crazy? David's cousin Tim jumped off the roof of the house into the river. Oh my. Twice. See the photo below. I thought the people jumping off the porch into the water were really daring already! But then, he DID serve in the Marine Corps... Two years ago at the family reunion, I stood outside the railing of the porch for 30 minutes, trying to get myself to jump, but just couldn't. This year, I stood poised to jump for a good 45 minutes, telling myself that I would regret it if I didn't do it this time, and that I already knew what it felt like NOT to do it...and that I wouldn't get the chance for at least three or four years after this. I prayed for help and guts, people offered to jump with me, people gave me all sorts of advice, breathing exercises...nothing helped. Eventually, I figured out I could sit down, and I jumped from there, which seemed SO much lower... and jumped from a seated position three more times, before I eventually managed to jump from standing on my feet but crouched down - twice. I am really relieved I managed. It was pretty fun. But it took me so long to get around to it, and I had assured people so fervently that I was very unlikely to jump, and I was so nervous each time, that there are no pictures of me in action. Oh well.

Emily had a wonderful time with her second cousin who is the only other girl of the eight grandkids, and nearly the same age. They stuck together the whole time, on the jet ski, the inner tube, in the water...

Jason took the fireworks photo, which struck me as the perfect 4th of July constellation, all red, white and blue. Great shot, Jason!