After reading what my niece, Melissa, wrote here, I began thinking about this summer again.  It was quite a

summer for my family.  The summer began with the anticipation of two events: 1) My parent’s (Brian and Anna McCown) 5oth Wedding Anniversary. 2) Melissa’s (my niece) wedding to Marcus Harrell.  The first event was in mid-June and the second event in late-July.  What we did not plan for was a family funeral – my grandmother

(Dad’s mom) passed away at the age of 95 after a struggle with Alzheimer’s.  Here are the major players in Our Summer of 2010:

Grandma – Nellie McCown

Dad and Mom – Brian and Anna McCown

Older Brother and Family – Doug (Douglas as mom still calls him) and Tammy McCown with their daughters: Melissa and Melanie.

Younger Brother and Family – Charles and Jodi McCown with their daughters: Alexandra and Victoria.

My Family – Scott and Amy McCown with our son: Andrew.

June Events:  Mom and Dad drove up from Florida to our house.  After spending the night with us, we loaded up early Thursday Morning and drove to Salem, VA on our way to Lancaster County, PA.  We drove to Lancaster

County on Friday where we stayed at the Vogt Farm Bed and Breakfast (Keith and Kathy are great hosts).  Doug and Family flew in from Niceville, Florida and Charles and Family flew in from Gulf Breeze, FL.  Once we were all there we had a great time touring the area over the next few days.

The weekend after we returned home, Grandma passed away.  She lived most of her life along the Ohio River, but spent the last 28 years in the Pensacola, FL area.  Since she was active with the Leonard Street Church in FL, we had a memorial in Gulf Breeze, where she lived the last year of her life.  I had the pleasure of delivering the

Memorial Message.  Amy, Andrew and I returned to Alabama for Sunday at Parrish.  Tuesday Mom, Dad, Doug, Tammy, and Melanie drove back up to our house.  Wednesday the eight of us drove to Ohio for Grandma’s burial.  We returned to my Home on Friday.  (I need to mention that a few days later, Mom and Dad drove back up to Birmingham to purchase a camper, Amy, Andrew, and I met them for supper)

Two weeks later we are back in Florida for Melissa’s wedding to Marcus Harrell.  I conducted the ceremony, Amy did the Groom’s Cake and the Bride’s Cake using my mom’s kitchen as her bakery away from home.

Now it is time for School to start.  Oh yeah, this is Melanie’s Senior Year in High School and final year with the Niceville High School band, Andrew is playing Jr. Football and had work-outs all summer — when we were home, and Alexandra starts Kindergarten this fall.

Maybe you can see why this summer will go down in family history as “Our Summer of 2010.” — I’ll try to get a video of my parent’s 50th up on YouTube later.  Melissa said it well, “I thank God for blessing me with family.”