Dogwood Acres Weekly 11/03/08

DOGWOOD ACRES, 11/03/08, ELANE CRUM
Hello friends. Hodges and Crums traveled to Bloomington, Illinois, over the weekend for Martin and Amy’s wedding. Their wedding was held nearby in the historic Funks Grove Church, a beautiful little church in the woods, built in 1864-65.
Those of us who came from Missouri stayed at a lovely hotel in Bloomington. Since the wedding was not until 5:00 p.m., we had time for the girls to swim Saturday morning and expected to have a relaxing day.
When Neal began unpacking his suit, he realized that pants and tie was missing, so that gave us an opportunity to go shopping. It can be a challenge to find the right color of black, but he was blessed and found pants in the first store. Nothing can be too easy though and after several phone calls from LeaAnn, the list of forgotten items grew and our shopping trip took us from one end of town to the other.
All’s well that ends well and it did. By the time we got to the wedding site everyone had on the right color of clothes and pantyhose and all frustrations were forgotten.
Neal performed the ceremony, LeaAnn played the piano and Ashton and Erin handed out wedding programs as guests came in.
Bill and Mary Lou played their part well as parents of the groom. When asked if she cried, Mary Lou said not a drop as she had waited thirty-one years for this day.
A reception followed with good food and a little bluegrass pickin’ by Martin, LeaAnn and Rod Humbyrd finished the evening.
Amy is a beautiful lady with a loving heart; we think she and Martin are the perfect couple and wish them a lifetime of happiness.
Family and friends all traveled back home on Sunday. Neal, LeaAnn and the girls stopped in St. Louis and took Bill and Mary Lou up in The Arch. Tim Allen rode home with Rick and me. He helped Rick drive while I napped and read a book in the back seat.
It was a wonderful weekend for traveling, weather was beautiful and fall colors further north and in Illinois were beautiful.
Uncle Sean took Vanessa and Dakota Bilyeu deer hunting in Saturday and Sunday’s youth hunt. They both saw deer but Vanessa let a 6-pt walk because it was not big enough.
Connie Hammond took off a morning from bow hunting to go trout fishing. She said it is probably too hot to hang a deer anyway and those little trout tasted good.
We called Rick’s mom Sunday evening to let her know we arrived home safely. She had a busy weekend with lots of company as Aunt Barb came down from Portland. Betty Jo made sausage gravy to go with Roger’s biscuits for Sunday breakfast and they had a good time eating and visiting.
While having lunch in Branson one day last week, I saw Justin Fisher, also taking his lunch break. He is manager of the new Denny’s Harley-Davidson Store down at Branson Landing. It is on the Marina and Kasie says has a beautiful view of Lake Taneycomo. Justin has worked for Denny’s in Springfield several years but is happy to be working closer to home. Bye for now.