Class of 1991

August 11 - 13 we held our Connell High School 20 year reunion. There wer about 90 in our graduating class and about 50 made it out. I almost won the prize for most miles traveled. Charity Worsham came from Washington D.C. Most of my classmates still live within 3 hours of where they graduated.

I had to include a picture of my cousin, Chris Quinton (on the left). We were born weeks apart, took baths together (until he pushed me out of the tub causing stitches at 4 years old), and grew up together, and hadn't seen each other since our 10 year class reunion (or close). Crazy how time and distance change things.

Seth Poulson, Amy Freeman Phillips and Kim Nielson Rodriquez. Amy was our class president and did a wonderful job with our 10 year and again with our 20. Seth helped her as well. It's a lot of work and I'm grateful they put forth the effort to make it happen.

I'm doing my impression of "My name's chubby."

Kim, Stephanie Ochoa Search, Shannon Gunter Van Horn, Donna Forbes Curtis, and Janae Loeber. We all played sports together.

A more civilized picture

Kim, D.J. Search, Stephanie, Justin Russell, and Shannon. Justin went around documenting the event making sure he was in a picture with everyone.

My friend Stephanie and I met in the 4th grade and soon became best friends. Our birthdays are one day apart, we were born in the same hospital, by the same doctor and our birth announcements are in the newspaper side-by-side. We ate together, starved together, wrecked my dad's pick up together, played sports together, cried together, worked together and both had twins just a year apart. Obviously hers are girls but still...we were meant to be. Stephanie married a classmate, D.J. Search. She is a waitress and a full time real estate agent who manages to juggle it all. She amazes me.

Kim and I have known each other before we even knew that we knew each other. We became best friends in high school and then roommates at Rick's College. Kim is a 4th grade teacher and an amazing mom. We have great memories of showing our pigs at the county fair, trading clothes, cruising Court Street, hanging out with Mike and Matt at college, exercising and eating nothing but pretzels, and filling up our Maverick mugs. Good Times. She too married a classmate, Junior.

Kim and I at the bowling alley. Kim bowled a 172 or a 192 which put the rest of us to shame.

The reunion started Thursday night with family bowling, adult dinner the next night and a family picnic in the park on Saturday. Some were amazed that I even came because of the distance but I told them I wouldn't miss it. I grew up in a great area with salt-of-the-earth people. We all looked the same, just a few more wrinkles. We did our job in carrying on our legacy. There were 169 children born with two sets of twins (my friend Stephanie and I). We have a few doctors and others in the medical field, farmers, Realtors, computer whizzes, engineer, social worker, but hands down the career of choice is being a stay-at-home-mom. That's what I dreamed to be doing 20 years later so I'm living the dream!