Billy Aldridge

Thursday evening we were saddened by the news of the passing of my sister-in-law Jan's father, Billy Aldridge.  Billy was such a sweet and loving man.  Jan's brother Wayne and I were best friends growing up in Itta Bena and Billy and Frances always considered me one of their own.  When Andy and Jan got married it just solidified the connections between the Cummings and Aldridge families.  Billy and Frances have always loved Matt and McKenzie right under their own grandchildren.  Billy funeral was Sunday and the service and the graveside service were very nice and a very fitting tribute to him.  The ladies of the church in Itta Bena fed the family at the church after the graveside service and we all had time to visit and reminisce about good times together.  We'll miss Billy and we're praying for Frances and the rest of the family as they adjust to life without him.

Wedding

Saturday was my cousin, Beth's, wedding in Eupora.  The weather was perfect and everything couldn't have gone any better.  The wedding was at a little country church where Beth's parents are buried and the reception was at their family farm.  Beth had many friends and family helping make everything run smoothly and make the day special for everyone.  She asked me to take pictures for them and here are a few.  I'll have the rest on my web site in a few days.

 The shoes say "I do" in case you can't read them.

 This is at the house at the family farm.

 Her flowers had a picture attached of her parents on their wedding day.

 Andy sang "What a Friend We Have In Jesus" and "The Lord's Prayer"

I have never been to a wedding where the bride and groom faced the crowd during the ceremony.  It was neat.

 Betty was my assistant and also in charge of keeping the dog out of the church.  This dog showed up at the rehearsal Friday night and then came back for the wedding!  Dr. Doolittle did a great job of keeping him outside.

 Instead of rice or birdseed, they passed out these cowbells for everyone to ring as Beth and Robert left.

The man who played the piano works at American Family Radio and he also made this cool birdhouse for Beth and Robert as a wedding gift.

 Mr. Glen was there and it wasn't long before Matt found him and they started talking trains.

 They had quite a long conversation about everything from trains to school.

 Beth changed into this dress that her mother (my mother's sister) wore on her wedding day.

McKenzie and another girl passed out the cowbells.

We had to get a shot of the kids since we had them all together and dressed up.

Fall Mantel Party

Today I found a neat Autumn link party over at The Lettered Cottage. Today Layla is having a fall mantel party where you show yours all decked out for the season. Thursday they are having a fall door decor link up so I know I will be back to check those out. Here is my mantel all dressed for fall. Everything is the same as last year's except for the cute metallic pumpkins I added this year. I found these at Wal-Mart last week for $1 each. I bought a few more crows this year and I love how they look with the pumpkins and fall garland.

I plan on catching up on my new fall magazines and getting some new ideas for our home. I love this time of year!!!

New Restaurant!

We're always excited to try a new restaurant and we have three new ones opening in town right now.  We visited one tonight called Eat At Joe's.  It's in a new building that houses McKenzie's new dance studio which is behind No Way Jose and O'Reilly Auto Parts.  Here's the menu.  The pics aren't that great so I hope you can read it.

 Betty got the grilled chicken with baked beans and potato salad.  Her favorite was the homemade potato salad.

 McKenzie got the BBQ Nachos.  She wasn't a big fan of their BBQ sauce but she said it was good.  She still likes Tacky Shack's BBQ Nachos better.

 Matt went with his old stand-by - chicken strips and fries.  I got a bite of his strips and they were pretty good.  I may get that next time.

My choice was the "Big Joe Burger" and seasoned fries.  It was a little greasy but it all tasted good.  I got a little taste of everybody's and I think I'd have to grade them:  Grilled Chicken- A, Chicken Strips- B, Burger- B, BBQ Nachos- C. 

The food was good and the service was good for an opening night.  Everyone there was very nice.  Even the owner's son, who looked to be about 10, greeted us and asked us if we were doing alright and then wished us a good evening when we left.  I think he was a little sweet on McKenzie, too. 

Pizzazz!

Saturday at the Downtown Jubilee was McKenzie's first public performance with her school's show choir, Pizzazz.  They did a great job!  McKenzie loves doing stuff like this and you could tell she was having a great time!  Here are a few pictures of the performance.

Decorating with Fall Family Photos/Mums

I am linking up with The Inspired Room's Fall Nesting Party 2011. She is encouraging us to put out a few things that remind us of fall. Since it is not actually fall yet, I think this is good to do in that gets us excited about what the season holds. I usually don't decorate for fall until end of September but I did put out a few things that I really love. I love family photos especially holiday ones. Since its time to say goodbye to summer, I took a few of the frames in my kitchen and replaced the current pictures with ones from our trip to the pumpkin patch in Hernando last October. This is my cute find from Big Lots a few weekends ago. It is a chalkboard frame and I got it for $6! Love it! I plan on changing out the pictures often and even letting the kids write the caption they want on it.

One of my favorite pumpkins on the entry hall chest...

Mums are my favorite this time of year and I always can't wait to get those summer flowers out and replace with the mums. It already makes the porch look better and ready for the new season. I kept the accent plants like the ivy and potato vine because they look great for fall. On into October the mums will quit blooming and I will replace with pansies and kale for the winter. This is the view from my front door. The mums look nice with my sunflower door decoration. I also spruced up the deck a little because this is the first thing you see as you come up to our back door.

Can't wait till October to decorate for halloween. Check out these cute things I found at Michaels. I plan on making something for the mailbox with these so I will show pictures soon of how it turns out.

So hope all of this gets you in the mood for fall. Be sure and check out all the other links to the party...really cute ideas.