AFTER SEVEN YEARS...

She's baaa-aack!

Our daughter left for college in Arkansas seven years ago, and little did we know she wouldn't be back for a long time.  She came home for one summer after her freshman year.  After that she wasn't here any other summers due to her study abroad and being a trek guide in Colorado.  She graduated and moved permanently to Colorado and found a job in banking, living in a beautiful old neighborhood in Denver.  Along came a guy who won her heart and they got married just 11 months ago.  They acquired a bus and a dog.  They began making a tiny house out of the bus.  He graduated in May in A & P and got a job in Arizona, which after a few short months, they realized was not the place for them.  So, they are back in OKC!  Needless to say, we are thrilled to get to see them more often.

We helped them move into a ranch house nearby, where the bus is welcome and so is Tucker! 

I love thinking back about the last seven years and all the adventures she's been on and seeing how God has blessed her.  

TWO NEW THINGS THIS THANKSGIVING...

1.  Tucker came with us.

2.  Son #1 brought his lovely girlfriend!  There's a saying in the family:  If you bring somebody to Thanksgiving, there's probably a wedding in the future!  We certainly hope so!

I think it's safe to say both of them had a good time.  Here we are doing the Turkey Trot in the rain Thanksgiving morning.  They both participated!  Tucker especially enjoyed checking out the cows near our race route.   

We enjoyed our Pumpkin Bash after Thanksgiving dinner like always!

The yucky weather kept us inside more but no one is complaining about rain in southwestern Oklahoma!

CRAFTING LIKE CHARLIE BROWN...

Since this year is the 50th Anniversary of the Charlie Brown Christmas Special, it was pretty obvious to me what our Bible class Christmas party theme should be!  Since we are all around 50 years old - it's one of those things that's been around all our lives!  I decided I better get busy and make some things for the party because it will be here before I  know it!  

There are a few tutorials out there on how to make a Charlie Brown Christmas tree, but I found the easiest way was to use an evergreen branch and "pot" it.  

 I put a smaller pot into a larger one so that the branch could stay upright by sticking into the hole in the small pot. It worked beautifully and only took me about 10 minutes to make!

Then I made some ornaments for party favors. I found a tutorial HERE and it's a bit like making a ship in a bottle!  

Kinda challenging, but fun!  

Are you doing any fun themes this year for Christmas??? 

SWEET BABY...

This week I got to meet my newest great-niece!  I don't usually say names here, but it's such a beautiful name, I have to share it with you:  EVERLY.  Is that not precious?

Thankful for safe delivery and precious little ones!

GETTING CREATIVE WITH GOD...

I'm really excited about the new year!  It may not be everything I have planned but God will make it what it's supposed to be...

In Women's Ministry we are always thinking and planning and looking for ideas to bring glory to God through what we do.  One of the ways we promote more connections with each other and God is through small Bible studies and classes on Wednesday nights.  For a while now, my friend in the ministry has been gently asking me if I had any ideas for a class in the winter.  I regretfully told her I could not come up with anything, then the idea came!  Just 24 hours after telling her I had nothing, NOT A THING - Inspiration, the Holy Spirit, let me know there were some ideas up there just rolling around in my head.  Thankfully there are ladies that believe in me and approved it!

We'll be GETTING CREATIVE WITH GOD! 

Topics:  

Choosing a Word For the Year

Bible Journaling

Making the Psalms Personal

Meditation

Spiritual Scrapbooking

Quiet Time Practices

Scripture Doodle Art

Just praying that there are other women out there who are interested in these things like I am...  Each lesson will be presented by a different person that I've asked who has some experience in the topic.  After a short presentation we will have roughly 30 minutes to practice our creativity - something we as women don't often take time to do when we are at home where the chores are never ending!  My prayer is also that each woman will be inspired by one of these things, and that their walk with God will be strengthened.  

CAN YOU TELL I'M A LITTLE EXCITED??? 

LAST PATIO MEAL FOR A WHILE...

I really love using my patio with all the college kids dinners and with Daylight Savings Time recently, it was so dark at 6:30 p.m. it was hard to eat out there!  The Hubs rigged up some lights in addition to what we already had out there.  Worked out great, but I'm sure with winter coming it is probably the last meal out there this year.

My goal with the college kids is to do one meal a month for them.  Sometimes it's hard to do with everyone's busy schedules!  We had a college meal recently but our college son couldn't come, so we turned right around and had another one when he could come, and of course he brought a crowd with him!  I hadn't made a Mexican meal in a long time since we are trying to eat healthier, but I went all out and made all the fattening stuff!

The Menu:

Chicken Enchiladas

Spanish Rice

Tamale Corn

Black Beans

Chips and Salsa

Green Salad

Chocolate Sheet Cake

Vanilla Ice Cream

Food prep tip I just learned from my sister-in-law:  For the chicken enchilada chicken.  She boils the breasts, lets them cool a little, takes off the goobers, then uses her big mixer to shred the meat.  I did this this time and it really saved so much hard work.  I also learned that beans can cook for 18 hours in a crock pot and still be okay!  I forgot about them...but they were still good.  You learn something new every day!!!

A PEEK INTO MY REAL LIFE...

Having kids in their 20's is getting more fun all the time!  We have a continual group message on our phones we call "Family Swag" and it keeps me laughing.  Hardly a day goes by that someone doesn't share a  picture or comment.

Some random stuff from our group:

 From my daughter - A picture of Tucker all cuddled up in blankets

 From my oldest son - on the job filming for our favorite basketball team!

A goofy one I took at OC Homecoming that went out to the family!

Hey kids!  Look at our new modern shower door - we finally got rid of the last bit of brass!  (Final touch on our bathroom we redid)

Yummy sandwich with our home-grown tomatoes!

How about your real life?  What works for your family?

LATEST READS...

Loved this one!  The true story of Emma Gatewood.  She was the first woman to ever walk the Appalachian Trail - way back in 1957, when it wasn't even a "thing" to try to walk the whole trail!  She reminds me of Jesus; went on faith, not carrying much, not even a sleeping bag.  She relied on the kindness of strangers and wasn't afraid to ask if she could sleep on their porches, etc.  Pretty amazing story!

Habits.  We all have them, some good and some bad.  This book helps you examine yourself and where you fit in the "four tendencies."  Some people have success totally abstaining from a bad habit and others do not.  I found this really interesting and even if I still have some bad habits, at least I have a few more ideas now about how to go about trying a new method for breaking them!

This one I had to read since a friend said it was one of his favorites.  A fictional, funny, coming-of-age story, I found myself drawn into it, wanting to know more about Owen and his strange ways.  It has a lot of religious references and Owen seems to have a special connection with God.  Pretty different kind of read for me.  I think I would like to read some more by this author!

Just a fun read - a fictional story of three friends brought together by a death.  As they unravel the mystery of their mutual friend, they support each other through the ups and downs of their dating relationships, caring for elderly relatives and dealing with adult children.  Despite the title, it's a clean read!

MY FAVORITE-EST COOKIE IN NORTH CAROLINA...

Chocolate Whopper cookies from Foster's Market! I liked the restaurant so much I visited twice!  I was so excited to find the restaurant/market's actual recipe online HERE.

Contrary to what they sound like, they do not have Whoppers candy in them.  They do have a delicious blend of dark/semisweet chocolate, pecans, and espresso powder!  I think the espresso powder is what made me love them, even though I'm not a coffee lover.  I LOVE dark chocolate and the espresso gives it more of that dark taste.  To make these, I looked at three stores for instant Espresso powder and finally found it at Wal-mart.  The recipe only makes a dozen, but since they are as big as a cupcake, one a day should do!

Ha - they look like hamburger patties in this picture!  Let me assure you they are wonderful!  They turned out a little flatter than the ones at Foster's Market but they tasted just as good.  My new go-to for any party that calls for fancy cookies!