Photo Overload - Weekend in Review

Photo Warning!! There are 27 photos in today's post, so I know everyone won't be interested - this is so that when I'm old and my mind is feeble, I can look back!! On Thursday after work, I drove 45 minutes to our son and daughter-in-law's house and Mark met me there so that we could take Granddaughter #1 to dinner. Before we left, my son gave us a dozen eggs and used their new stamp on the carton.

We went "down the road" to the Mexican restaurant nearby so that we could celebrate her 9th birthday!

The restaurant was packed - on a Thursday night - and she knew just about everyone and was flitting from table to table as she visited with friends.

When they found out it was her birthday, they brought a cool birthday dessert!

On Friday morning, I worked on straightening up my home "office/place to craft/room where youngest grandbaby sleeps in porta crib" room. I'm constantly shopping for a rocking chir that is smaller in size and more in line with the small desk. When I find the one I want, I'll know it. I haven't found it yet.

I tried to straighten up the bookshelves. I should get rid of some more books.

Our upstairs is much more personalized that our downstairs. I have paintings/drawings done by our granddaughters and I have all sorts of random pictures of family and friends. In the hallway, I have pictures from our travels on both sides.

On Friday, the youngest granddaughter celebrated her first birthday! We will head down to their house this weekend to celebrate.

On Friday night, we hosted our long-time supper club. It is amazing to me that we've been gathering together every month for over 20 years.

We had a great menu. Terry brought a black bean and corn dip with fritos for our appetizer. Kim brought a wonderful slaw. Laura brought baked beans.

Phella brought banana pudding and some kind of a bar. I didn't eat either, but they both looked delicious.

Mark smoked the meat on his Pit Barrel Smoker and then he sliced it, rather than shredding it. It makes a much prettier presentation.

I kept it simple - just a few flowers in a vase in the center of the table. I love our dining room. I've heard that the trend is moving back towards actual dining rooms. An actual dining room was on my list of non-negotiables when we were house hunting.

Saturday morning, we headed to Homewood to the Mouat Chapel in our church. It is a sweet chapel that will hold 75-90 people. My sister-in-law, Alice, made the gorgeous flower arrangement. I'm sorry that my picture is slanted. I could have corrected that . . .

Bill loved to do all of the outdoor activities from canoeing and white water rafting to camping and more. When Mark and I were dating and first married, Bill had the "tank" below. This picture makes me smile!!

A member of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra reached out to me and said that she knew Bill from the Lakeshore Walking Trail where he rode his recumbent bike. She wanted to honor Bill by playing at his service. She played a four minute prelude before the service began and it was so beautiful. I watched her face and fingers as she played and she truly honored Bill. For those of you who have never had to book musicians . . .let me just say that she truly gave us a gift.

After the service, Mark and I rode with George and Alice to the graveside. It was over an hour north of us in a graveyard by a tiny church. There are four little old ladies left as members of the church. Our brother-in-law, Bob, dug the hole on Friday and he and Susie placed Bill's ashes in the ground. Alice took the beautiful flowers from the altar with us and placed them on the grave.

Mark read the 14th chapter of John and he and George recited the 23rd Psalm. 

Alice and I were walking around looking at all of the grave markers in the cemetery. I turned around and the two brothers were still standing by the grave.

The farms and pastureland were beautiful -- but we were out in the middle of some deep country! Let me just say that the chapel service and the graveside was just right for Bill.

On the way home, we stopped at Smith Farms Smoked Meats. The first item of business for me was to find the ladies' room! I should have snapped a picture. The walls were tile on the bottom and corrugated metal above.

There was a wide array of cheese and sausage and meat sticks and jelly and jam and salsa.

There was also a "wine tasting." There were 8 bottles on each side and you had to take a card in and out for it to work (to keep kids from using!). There were all sorts of interesting flavors from scuppernong to blueberry to cranberry to merlot, etc. Many of the wines were actually labeled Smith Farm so they evidently make some of their own.

The guys had removed their suit jackets and ties before the long ride. In those white shirts, even with George's beard . . .that identical twin thing shows.

We came home and crashed after a very long day. I know we ate something and I know we watched something on TV - Reacher, I think!

Sunday morning, I had to be at work at 7:00 and the sun was just coming up. It was beautiful.

I worked and taught our Sunday School class on the Christus Victor theory of atonement and Mark went to worship and Sunday school and then we headed home for the afternoon. We ate some left-over BBQ from Friday night and took a nap! Later in the afternoon, Mark cooked the sausage (from Smith Farms) over charcoal and he cooked some boneless chicken breasts for my meal prep lunches while the fire was hot. I prepped my lunches.

Guess what we did after that? We booked a river cruise for the fall. We need something fun to look forward to -- we have a couple of family weddings (May and June) and another wedding in June and those will be fun. The cruise is a "big fun" in the future.

The table below is the one made by our son. Mark has been decorating the screened porch. The old drinkcontainer was my daddy's. The fishing equipment is very old from Mark's side of the family. Can you see those cool blue jars? and the two old lanterns? It looks great! He cleaned the pollen off and it was back not 30 minutes later.

What did you do this weekend?