Duke Family Reunion

Every other year, Ray C.'s grandparents host a family reunion for the their family.  This year, we went to Charlotte, North Carolina.  It was a fabulously planned out reunion.  We spent mornings at our hotel and evenings at Art and Gail's home.  We celebrated Grandpa's 91st birthday, played lots of Bingo and other games, and ate some fabulous food.  I really love being a part of this family!  The only thing that could have made it better would have been if Mom could have been there!

Ellen & Adam's Wedding

Ray C. and I traveled to Charleston, South Carolina this weekend for his cousin's wedding. It was fun getting to see the extended family.

Ellen & Adam were married on Folly Beach and had their reception in the big house behind everyone in the picture below. It was so much fun!!Everyone walking out to the beach from our house to the ceremony.

Dad & Jaunice

One of my favorite parts was the "Very Manly Flower Man" actually throwing flower petals and carrying Ellen & Adam's dog, B.B., on a leash!
I even saw porpoises behind them during the vows! Could it get more perfect?
Adam's parents, Uncle Art & Aunt Gail
They planned everything so perfectly. The paper products all matched - from invitation to program. Ellen documented every special detail in a "fact sheet" for the guests at the rehearsal dinner. For example: the dress she wore at the rehearsal dinner was made from material Adam's dad brought back from Thailand while in the service; she wore an anklet made from something special belonging to her brother was died 3 years ago; and the arch was made by her father for her brother's wedding. There were many more, but the idea is that each detail was unique to her and Adam.
The cheese, cracker, and chutney spread on the table was amazing. Each item was labeled (in the coordinating paper).
Glen and Ray C. are enjoying the honeycomb at the end of the table. We actually scraped the honey out of the comb! It was an interesting conversation piece!
I love taking pictures of Grandma & Grandpa. I think Grandpa was tired of smiling! This was a silly smile just because I told him to smile! :)

I didn't take pictures of the steamed oysters that everyone picked on their own downstairs or the amazing dinner of Barbeque Pig (the whole thing) and many other amazing foods!

Ellen is a pastry chef and told me she did not want to talk about cake at her wedding! She made a delicious layer cake of brownie, chocolate chip cookie, and cheesecake! It was great, and to top it off they served it with milk in chilled old-style milk bottles!

They also made and served truffles, lemon curd, and Vanilla Bean Panacotta. It was AMAZING! I ate WAY too much, but it was delicious!!

It was a beautiful wedding, and I think they enjoyed it!

Papa & Peppy's Wedding

Ray C.'s dad got married this past weekend! We had so much fun getting ready for it! However, it did take a while to get all four girls' hair braided and everyone dressed! This is my sister-in-law and me working on hair while everyone else watches! We have 7 children 7 and under between the two of us! So, "Peppy" inherited 7 little angels on Saturday, and they ADORE her!!


We were so excited that Honey and Jessie were able to come down for the wedding. There were so many people there that we had a video feed in a separate room!
This is our niece, Maggie, throwing flower petals down the aisle!
Of course, all the kids were in the wedding, but I don't have a good picture of the boys, yet.
With three preachers, they are REALLY MARRIED! Ray C. did the main part of the ceremony which included a wonderful homily. We heard so many compliments on what a great wedding it was - the best most people had ever been to. They are such a sweet couple - perfect for one another, and it showed throughout the ceremony! They cried like twenty year olds getting married!

I thought it was so neat that they chose to use all local vendors. That means a lot when you consider that the population of Monticello is under 7000!
Peppy and Papa with all their grandkids. They fed each of them a bite of cake! I may be the only one who noticed the symbolism of it, but I really appreciated it regardless. FYI...the tradition of the bride and groom feeding one another comes from the groom feeding the bride to symbolize that he will provide for her and her feeding him to symbolize that she will take care of him. So, when they began feeding one another, I couldn't help but think about the symbolism of their grandparents taking care of them! It made me smile!

Uncle Glen, me, and my mom!
My mom with Juanice and me!
This is all of Ray C.'s mom's family! We were SO grateful that they came! Their support meant so much to us all and was a testament to all who heard they were present of how special our family is!! (Thanks again, grandma and grandpa, Uncle Art, Aunt Ruth, Uncle Jim, and Aunt Barb! We love you)


Making it official! Everyone signing the marriage certificate!

Here they are....Mr. and Mrs. Ray Hughes, Sr.
I love this one! Aren't they the cutest couple?

Family Reunion

Here are more pictures that I neglected to post from the family reunion. We had such a great time!
Chase and Maggie enjoyed dancing together on New Year's Eve!
Well, Chase dances with several girls! This is Finley!

Ellen made a delicious and creative cake for Grandma and Grandpa the last night we were there! It was this chest which she designed after one they have in their home. It was filled with edible letters that all the great-grandchildren made earlier in the day! There were also a few replicas of old letters they had written to one another while dating and in their early married years. It was so unique!

Look at all those great-grandkids!
Aunt Barb and her grandson Sawyer!
Finley loved the beach - as long as mama didn't go to far away!
Look at my sweet son, Thomas! He wrote a message for me in the sand - "I love you!"
We tried over and over to get a good pyramid of ours and Heather's kids, but it was quite difficult! It did make for some funny pictures, though!

Kiernan and Regan did a great job playing the piano!
Mmmmm... gotta love Aunt Ruth's meatballs!
Check out Grayson's cool doo!