On the Road Again

Just a quick note to let everyone know Freda and Keith headed for home today. We all hope they travel safe and look forward to seeing them again next summer. See ya soon guys! ♥

Summer at the Shore

"Are we going to the shore this weekend?"

If you ask either Sherry or Christina how many times they heard that statement this summer, they would answer, "every single weekend!"

Thanks to Preston and Karen who allowed Pauline & Blaine, Sherry & Gary and Christina & Philip to set up their travel trailers all summer and to Danny & Bev who allowed them to run what seems like miles and miles of extension chords, "Hearts Can Tent" campground was quite the gathering place all summer long.

Lazy afternoons reading a book, many hot dogs on Blaine's charcoal bbq, games of "man hunt", star gazing, and of course lots of washers were enjoyed by all. Pauline, Sherry, Christina and their families can not thank Preston, Karen, Danny and Bev enough for giving them a "summer home". The kids have made so many wonderful memories this summer. Memories that will last a life time!

Just a small glimpse into what was enjoyed all summer long....

At times there would be a large crowd sitting around in the evenings having a chat and a laugh.

There would be a crowd gathering around the campfire each and every night.

Dalton cooking the next best thing since sliced bread....wait...it IS bread! All the kids this summer discovered how yummy bread tasted toasted over the campfire. Every weekend there would have to be at least two rolls of white bread available to them. The parents didn't mind since toast is healthier than s'mores!

Sherry has a Facebook Album called "Summer on the Shore" that has lots more pictures. You can access the album even if you do not have a Facebook Account by following this link:

www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150271213667331.326376.720497330&l=da9acd42a1&type=1

It goes without saying there are at least 3 families hoping "Hearts Can Tent" Campground will be open for business for the 2012 Summer Season.

Family Reunion

"Family Reunion, she's gonna be a good one,
So lemme bend your ear, the clan's all here,
For the Family Reunion"

July 30-31st the Coughlan Clan celebrated their 8th Family Reunion. Hard to believe it's already been that many years but the reunion only gets better and better with time. Thank you to Valerie, Leslie, Preston and Karen for all their hard work planning, setting up, cooking, tearing down and putting up with us in the back yard year after year. Your dedication to the reunion does not go unnoticed and everyone truly appreciates it.

Saturday may have been a bit soggy but it didn't damper any one's spirits. Everyone came prepared for a great time. There's always so many well planned fun activities for the kids each year. Scott did a great job teaching the kids the art of paper origami. The kids loved making their pop bottle fire flies as well. Thanks to Karen for organizing bingo on Saturday and painting on Sunday for the kids. We definitely have some budding artists in the family for sure. A huge thank you to Hollie and Danny for setting up the fireworks. It was the best fireworks show to date! And what a special touch to watch the Chinese Lantern float up in the night sky. It's going to be hard to out do yourselves next year but we are sure you will give it your all. Excellent job guys!!

Of course one of the highlights of the reunion is the washer toss tournament. Nothing wrong with some friendly competition amongst family right? In case you missed it, here are our 2011 winners.

Vada & Herbie fought hard against Jamie and Hollie to capture third place. Jamie got an honorable mention for playing so well having NEVER played in a tournament before. Way to go Jamie!!

Corrie and Gary placed 2nd. The games for 1st place were quite interesting to watch since it was mother vs daughter and brother-in-law vs brother-in-law.

And the 2011 Family Reunion Washer Toss Tournament Champions are Donna and Jason! Congrats to you both!

Another highlight of the reunion of course is the food. And man, was there ever lots of great food! Saturday's supper was delicious. Everyone enjoyed hot turkey sandwiches, fries, dressing and desserts. Also Ian provided his pork speciality for everyone to enjoy. Sunday morning's breakfast of sausage, ham, pan fries and toast was a great way to start the day and give us all the energy needed to compete in the washer toss tournament. Hots, hams, turkey, gravy, fries and desserts was a very tasty way to end the afternoon. Thank you to Leslie, Ian, Morgan, Hayward, Preston, & anyone else who helped cook the meals. Thank you to Cameron and Valerie for making the delicious dressing. Thanks to the girls who cooked the turkeys and made the gravy. Thanks to anyone who provided those decadent desserts. And of course, it wouldn't be a family reunion without the cake!

And yes, the cake was as good as it looks!

Everyone was having such a great time this year that we did something we haven't done before. We stayed the second night! Sunday evening a small group of us stayed for a campfire, star watching with Scott's telescopes and a performance of a skit Sherry wrote called "Horsebank Memories." The kids quickly practiced the skit and early in the evening performed it for a small group in Preston's garage.

The kids singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" during their performance of "Horsebank Memories".

The kids did an amazing job! It was very nice to go back in time and remember some of those fun times out at the Horsebank Lodge. There wasn't a dry eye in the place by the end of it.

So we think it's safe to say the 2011 Family Reunion was a huge success. Already looking forward to the 9th annual one! Family and tradition are two of the most important things in life. We are lucky to have both of these things in abundance. ♥

Luck 'o the Irish

This summer Nora made us all proud as we watched her dance her heart out on TV. She is a member of the Nelson Doyle Dancers and they performed for Live at 5 on Friday, July 15th during Miramichi's Irish Festival. Nora was all smiles and it's evident to everyone she really enjoys it and has some amazing talent. The group performed 5 times during the festival and is always a crowd pleaser.

During the Irish Festival, they were formally invited to Ireland to perform and are slated to leave August 7th, 2012 for a ten day excursion. How exciting!! Fundraising is already underway for this trip of a lifetime. They will soon be selling tickets on one of Fred's beautiful wooden rocking chairs. Hollie will let us know when she has some tickets to sell.

Another fundraiser that will be of particular interest to the Coughlan Clan is a dinner theatre being held at the Newcastle Kin Center on Friday, December 2nd. The Heritage Players will perform "A Mountain School Christmas" written by Valerie. Valerie is a beautiful play-write so this production is sure to be a great show. The Nelson Doyle Dancers will also be on hand to dance for the audience so this is sure to be a night not to miss. Hollie will soon have all the final details on tickets and we'll post it here.

Good luck with the fundraising Nora and congratulations on your wonderful television debut!

Nora wearing her new beautiful red dress for the Nelson Doyle Dancers.

Team Keenan was at it again!

This is the first of many summer updates.

The kids of Team Keenan were raising awareness and funds for JDRF again this summer. On Saturday, July 2nd they participated in the annual Miramichi Jaycee's Soap Box Derby. Thanks to Steve Curtis, a member of the Jaycee's, the kids had an amazing car to race. He spent the winter designing and building the "JDRF Special".

If you ask any of the kids, you will definitely hear how much fun they had racing the car that day. Paulina was even involved in a wreck!

Thanks to the Jaycees $500 was raised for JDRF. Steve has told the team next years' funds will also go to this great cause so members of Team Keenan will be out and about before the races looking for your support.

The Team Keenan kids with the "JDRF Special". Thank you Steve & the Miramichi Jaycees!!

Special Dates for the Month of September

Mark your calendars folks! Here are the special dates for this month.

Pauline's birthday is Friday, the 9th. Blaine's birthday is Monday, the 12th. Marilyn's birthday is Wednesday, the 14th. Florence's birthday is Friday, the 16th. Also Pauline and Blaine will be celebrating their 43rd wedding anniversary on Wednesday, the 28th.

This year corn beef & cabbage Sunday will be at the Horse Bank Lodge on Sunday, Sept. 18th. Hope to see everyone there!

Updates coming VERY soon!

Hello Coughlan Clan!!

Sorry for the delay in getting some more updates out to you. With all the hustle and bustle that comes with back to school, the blog may have been a little neglected. So sorry!!

Hope all the kids are enjoying their first week back to school! Where did the summer go? Also hoping our University students, Grace and Michelle, enjoy a successful year away.

The family was very pleased to spend some time with Vida this past weekend as she was out on a weekend pass. She certainly seems to be doing a lot better. And we are happy to report, Andrea is doing very good as well. Wishing them both a speedy recovery.

We also hope to hear wonderful results from Cameron's biopsy and Claudia's scope. They both had their procedures yesterday, Sept. 7th. Sending lots of positive thoughts their way.

Watch for some updates within the next few days including some great pics from a wonderful summer. And again, I remind you this is a family blog and anyone can access it. So if you want to add some pics or updates yourself, just contact Jennifer for the log in and password.

Enjoy your day!