Atwood Family: Wedded Bliss....

We had an amazing time this weekend celebrating such a special time for our friends, the Gannaways. It was a much more emotional weekend than I thought it would be, and I found myself on the verge of tears or thinking back a good 15 years several times over the weekend. Jeff and Sandy Gannaway have been special friends to our family for as long as I can remember. They have three girls and the picture below is how most of my memories are of those 3 little munchkins....they have all grown up and the oldest, Rebekah, got married. When I stepped into the church for the rehearsal on that Friday afternoon, I saw my "first batch" of babies that I started babysitting. I wasn't even really old enough, but when Rebekah was just a little thing, I would come over to "play" with her and would go on weekend trips to visit my Aunt Libby with Mrs. Sandy.....the other two came along and Myra and I were the babysitters. Myra even got a trip to Disney World out of the deal :)!

Rebekah, Maggie and Ann Clark

Maggie, Rebekah and Ann Clark....what beautiful girls they have turned into be! It was an honor for Lilly to "lead the way" for Rebekah on her wedding day, and I am so thankful that I will forever get to remind Lilly of this special day that she was able to participate.

TO GOD BE THE GLORY FOR THE GREAT THINGS HE HAS DONE!

We attended the Bridesmaids luncheon on Friday at noon, and Lilly kept saying to me, "I go see, Bekah!" She would venture down the table until she found her. She would visit with her a while and then come back to me. Here she is "visiting Bekah", the bride!

The 2 sweet flower girls giving the bride some good "love"!

Lilly sitting with Ann Clark having some oranges. That was her favorite part of the delicious meal. Ann Clark informed me that she ate 7 oranges sitting with her. She must have known that she would need that Vitamin C for her big weekend.

The lovely couple practicing at rehearsal....Rebekah and Walker.

Anna Clay and Lilly loved playing with the purses of all the girls at the rehearsal. Of course, out of all 15 that were there, they both wanted the same one. This purse, was the one they liked the best....at the end of the rehearsal it had been tampered with and some "lips" were missing!

Anna Clay with the "favorite" purse....she did find it first, so she was entitled. It was a great find, but there were so many more, just as great!

Lilly and LaLa at rehearsal.....thank goodness for LaLa, she was the brains behind our entire plan of getting Lilly down that aisle....SHE DID IT.....by the way! She walked all the way down the aisle, so sweetly, on wedding day. Thanks to a PINK present from Mamie waiting on her at the end and Aunt LaLa telling her to go get it, she made it! We were all so very proud! Both of the girls did great....super cute!

WEDDING DAY....here is the princess bride! She looks radiant. I would say, "Lilly, where is the princess?" and she would just point to "Bekah".

Here is one sleepy flower girl! You can imagine the thoughts that were running through my mind, as she would look straight at me in that whiny voice and say, "I seepy, mama, I seepy". GREAT....one hour before she had to perform. I wasn't looking for her to do it!

Getting her "flowah duhl" shoes on ......

Loving that halo.....

Lilly and Anna Clay had on bloomers and one pair had Go Dawgs on the bottom and the other pair had Hotty Toddy. The bride and groom both went to Ole Miss, but the Father of the Bride, is a HUGE Bulldog fan...so both were represented!

Lilly found a pair of MAJOR high heels and loved walking around in them. I loved watching her with those panties on....GO DAWGS!

She loves feeling Mrs. Sandy's shiny dress. Mrs. Sandy, the mother of the bride, looked so pretty!

So, after the whole I am sleepy conversation, it was time for pictures....she was not going to have it. Lilly Whitten threw an all out fit and told everyone she was going "night-night". She walked right up to a pew and laid down. Things at this point were not looking good....

PARTY TIME......

Sissy was there......YAY!

Anna Clay having so much fun!

Lilly listening to the band

Lilly and Aunt My, being very SILLY!

She found Aunt LaLa's lip gloss and decided that she needed to put it on everyone that she saw, Mamie, LaLa, Mama and Sissy and then one other nice lady that we have never met before. :)

The Withers clan and spouses.....

Libby and Lilly....Lilly does not like to wear shoes for long and you count on her walking up to you with shoes in hand minutes after you arrive at your destination. It gets frustrating at times, but I am learning to pick my battles. Anyway, Libby pointed out that her feet were dirty, so they started calling them her "dancing feet". Lilly loved that and now, almost a week later she looks at the bottom of her feet and says "my dancin' feet".

Lilly after she was told that she had to leave the party....she was so tired and just worn completely out, but DID NOT want to leave. She cried and cried and called for everyone she could think of, "I want LaLa, Tom, My, Mamie, Boo, Libby, Sissy, LuLu" DRAMA!

And here we are, with our dress off, halo on and waiting for some delicious chicken nuggets. She got in the car and said, "I want shicken nu-gets, Mama." Brian and I thought she was pretty hungry....it had been a long day, but worth every minute of it!

Oh...this is one of those times when I just am so thankful for my life, my family and my friends. It was good to go home, it was good to be with old friends, and I am so thankful that it was for such a joyous occasion, as a wedding.