Pumpkin Cookies

This weekend was very fun and very busy. Dave was off on Friday. So, the four of us kept very busy going to the church in the morning for the baby worship cd, going grocery shopping, and running errands. Friday evening, the girls and I made snacks for our young married's Sunday school class. I knew Saturday was going to be crazy, so, the girls and I cooked, and tasted pumpkin cookies, and then put the goodies in the fridge to wait for Sunday to arrive. Saturday we got to visit with our friends, the Igoe's, in the afternoon, and then go to a dinner group established by our Sunday School class at the Pearce's. The Igoe's brought delicious enchiladas to our house for us to share, and we brought drinks to the dinner group where we got to eat grilled burgers with all the fixin's. Yummy! We also got some great deals at a community garage sale on Saturday. Yeah!

The cookies seemed very well accepted at church this morning, so I thought I'd share the recipe with all of you. They're a perfect fall treat! By the way, this recipe comes from a very sweet lady, Kay Little. Her son used to be one of Dave's best friends.

Pumpkin Cookies

4 cups flour (I used 2 cups all-purpose white flour and 2 cups whole wheat.)
2 cups oats, uncooked
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups butter, melted
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 can (16 oz.) pumpkin
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Combine flour, oats, soda, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl; set aside. Cream butter in mixer, gradually add sugars, beating until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla: mix well. Alternate additions of dry ingredients and pumpkin, mxing well after each addition. Stir in morsels. For each cookie, drop 1/4 cut dough onto lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees, until firm and lightly browned. Remove from cookie sheet; cool on racks.
Note: Dough may be frozen in air-tight container. Thaw in frig; then bake as directed. Makes about 32 large cookies.

The following picture is what my kitchen sink looked like after making dinner and baking cookies on Friday. It looks slightly better now.

 Saturday night, I decided to make some cute little flower clips for the girls to wear to church Sunday. These are what I came up with:

 I think they turned out pretty cute, but we already lost one at church. Maybe it'll show up soon. If not, I will just have to get my glue gun back out and craft another.

This morning was great. Pastor Gregg delivered a wonderful and convicting message. Then we went to Sunday School followed by a Leadership meeting at church that fed us all lunch. We rushed home afterwards and got the girls down for nap an hour and a half late. But, it was a great morning. Daniel (Dave's brother) and Dave are working on Daniel's Math homework at the moment, and Xiaolan (Danie's wife) was taking a little nap, but Julia and Lydia didn't let her sleep very long.

Well, that's about it for these Good Stewart's for this weekend. We are enjoying this fall season, and we can't wait to continue with all the festivities! Love to all of you who read my blog! -Amber

BabyWorship

My girls got to do something very exciting today!! They got to get pictures and videos taken of them while they played with toys and friends. These pictures and videos will ultimately end up in a worship dvd for kiddos! The ministry that is heading this whole thing up is called Touch the World Media. I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of this dvd!! But, in the mean time, pictures I took myself will have to suffice. :)

These are some of the photos I took of the girls as they interacted with everyone. However, I wasn't allowed to use my flash, so some of the pictures ended up a bit blurry.

The end result of this is gonna be fantastico!!! I'll let you know where you can buy your own copy when it comes out! (Wink, wink.) Love, Amber

Road Trip

Last week was very different for me and my family. If you have read my blog at all before, you know that in the last several posts, I have talked about going to visit my sister and brother-in-law to meet my new nephew, and that I would be then driving down to Topeka with my parents to visit my Grandpa. Then, my parents drove me to Bartlesville where I got to reunite with Dave and the girls and go to my 10-year class reunion.

I had a great time at each location, but am glad to be home. At my first location, I met this little guy:

I reminded him not to forget me between now and Thanksgiving. I'm sure he'll remember.

I had a great time visiting Josiah and my family, and seeing my friends Julie and Jamie. I was so surprised at how the time flew by and can't wait to host everyone in my home for the holidays.

Seeing my Grandpa was great, but somehow, in the short time we got to see him, I forgot to pull out my camera and take a pic of us with him. He told us several times that he is starting to forget things, but he also told us many stories about things that happened a long time ago, as well as things that are going on in his life and the lives of his freinds' currently. While I believe him that things are harder for him to remember, I am glad to see that he is doing well overall. I just pray that he isn't too lonely. I know he still misses my Grandma, as we all do.

After traveling to Bartlesville, my parents saw Dave and my girls for a few seconds while checking on their house that is still on the market in Bartlesville. (We are all hoping and praying that it sells soon.) I was amazed that we all rode into Bartlesville at the same time. We couldn't have planned it better if we'd tried. My brother also saw Dave and the girls and gave them hugs before he had to get to his house and get ready for work the next day. Dave and the girls and I got to head on over to my mother-in-law's house and visit with her and Dave's step-dad before the reunion festivities began the next evening.

The following morning, Ruth (Dave's mom), Dave, the girls and I went to the Dewey State Fair to visit the animals there. The fair was not very large, and there were no rides, but it was the perfect pre-nap activity, and I am so glad that we went. Below are a few pictures of the girls enjoying themselves at the fair.

We were also lucky enough to see a few friends from Bartlesville at the fair, and that was great fun. That evening, Dave and I went to meet with my former classmates at a local restaurant. We didn't stay very long though because we looking forward to seeing our friends, Jared and Lela. We had a great time both places and I was happily surprised that I was not afraid of all of my former classmates...which was very different from the way it was in high school.

Then on Saturday, we got to see Jared and Lela again as we checked out some garage sales with them in honor of the 100 mile long garage sale of Oklahoma. Afterwards we enjoyed lunch with Ruth and Don (Dave's step-dad) and then got the girls down for a nap. After they woke up, we got to visit with Krista, (Dave's step-sister), and her daughter, Mattisyn. Julia and Lydia L-O-V-E their cousin Mattisyn and were very, very sad to see her go. I couldn't believe how tall and big Mattisyn is getting. She's already 5 years old!!!! I hope my girls never get that big. I mean, I want them to grow normally....I mean, I want my girls to stay small forever...but I know they can't and that makes me sad....you probably know what I mean.

Anyway, that night we got to go to my high school reunion and thankfully, we had a great time!!! I talked to some of my classmates more that evening than I had the whole 4 years I went to school with them. Hallelujah and Praise the Lord, I am no longer painfully shy! I was so glad to see so many of them happily married, and surprised to hear so many of them already have children. Dave and I also hit the dance floor a few times and enjoyed watching others do the same. I wish we didn't have to wait 10 more years to do it again.

The hardest part of my trip was definitely the travel. Everything else was so much fun!! (My flight got delayed on the way there, so I sat on the plane for an hour and a half before we even took off. Then the last 45 minutes of the plane had some major turbulence, and since I am easily motion sick, I seriously thought I was going to lose my lunch snacks. Then, on the way back from Bartlesville, the 4 of us had to travel in the heat because the a/c in our van is broken, and Julia did end up losing her lunch. I think the poor dear is easily susceptible to motion sickness like me. Luckily she is old enough to let us know before it happens, so I had time to pass her a cup before Dave pulled over. It made clean-up a lot easier.) I am so thankful that besides a few little traveling quirks that everything turned out wonderfully!

Thanks so much for reading my blog, and keeping up with what our family is up to. I appreciate you all. Love, Amber

Happy Fall, Ya'll!

In Wyoming, it feels like fall. The air is crisp and cool. The tree leaves are turning the beautiful colors of autumn. It wouldn't feel weird to eat chili for dinner. It feels like fall.

Houston does not feel like fall until December. Last year we carved a pumpkin, but we had to wait until the last minute to carve and put it outside. The poor thing just cooks out there in the warm, autumn Houston sun. Maybe this year, I'll bring the pumpkin in during the day so that it won't rot immediately...

But, I digress. I got on the computer tonight to blog about the wonderful time we are having so far at the Hazelet's. I got some fun pictures of Josiah that I plan to post when I get back home. We made plans for the week of Thanksgiving and drew names for who we are going to buy gifts for at our Christmas celebration in November. We got to hold and help take care of Josiah. We enjoyed the autumn air. It's been great.

Tomorrow we leave to see my Grandpa in Topeka. He is turning 90 this February. I am so sad to leave this sweet family of three, but so glad to be one day closer to seeing my Grandpa, my husband, and my girls. Well, I better get to going. I need to hold Josiah one more time before he goes to bed. Love ya'll! Happy Fall. -Amber

That's My Story...and I'm Sticking to It.

We got to go to MOPS this morning. It was so nice to be back. The girls seemed to enjoy themselves. And, I KNOW I did. I packed lunches for both of them to bring to their classrooms, and Julia was adamant about carrying her lunch box into her class. I think it made her feel big, like she was in school. My friend, Sarah is Julia's teacher this year. "And that makes my heart feel super happy!" (quoting Kai-Lan from Ni Hao, Kai-Lan) And in addition to those tid-bits, I am really looking forward to the next meeting because Annalee, our group discussion leader, will be back.
On Saturday, I am leaving to visit my sister, my brother-in-law and my nephew. I am flying up there, and then riding back with my parents to Bartlesville over the course of 1.5 days. We will be staying one night in Topeka to see my Grandpa who is turning 90 on February 20th of next year. Dave and the girls will be meeting me in Bartlesville on the 9th of September, and he and I will be attending my 10 year class reunion. I'm sure I will be so anxious to see my wonderful husband and sweet kids again! My parents will head back to Louisiana to get everything together by church on Sunday, and Dave and I will stay in Bartlesville, enjoying reunion festivities until Sunday and then we will travel back to H-town.

I have already packed the girls bag for their Bartlesville trip, and have picked out their clothes for this coming Sunday. I still have to write everything in my brain on to paper in an attempt to make Dave's single-parenting time with the girls seem as smooth and seemless as possible. I haven't packed anything for myself yet, but I did decide to bring one black sweater so far. Ha! I figure I need to start rummaging through my winter gear because after spending the last year in Houston, Wyoming is going to feel like the North Pole. I really don't want to think about what I am going to wear to the reunion. You know how reunions are....I'm guessing I'll either have the time of my life, or an experience that feels like the biggest nightmare I've had since high school it's self!

On Friday, we will have faster internet!!! Yeah!! (Too bad I will only get to enjoy it for one day before I leave!) Currently, we have THE SLOWEST internet available. But in exchange for faster internet, we have to give up dvr and all of our good channels for basic cable. Boo. It will be hard, but I figure the girls and I will get movies to watch from the library and hopefully watch less t.v. all together. On the bright side, maybe the phrase I quoted earlier from Ni Hao Kai-lan will stop popping into my head every single time I think of something exciting to write. Maybe I'll read some biographies during the girls' naptime instead of droning out to whatever is on HGTV. (I've been inspired to read a biography on Deitrich Bonhoeffer from the LPM blog.) Maybe this will make our daily lives even better...who knows?

Anyway, thanks for reading my blog posts and putting up with my quirks. I'm not really sure why I got so link happy today...but, just for your information, you all are the best! Love, Amber