Western Days Parade & Goodbye to Good Friends

We had a busy weekend. Saturday was our little town's Western Day Parade. Most of the pics from the parade were taken by Emily. Here are few that she took.

Ethan ready for the parade with his candy bag.

I took this one of my handsome boy.

 I took this one too. My boss is in the Tahoe and that's our Sheriff handing out candy.

Ethan looking at his treasure.

Emily.

Me

Pawpaw on the phone with his brother.

Granny

This lady called my dad over to her. Looks like he went willingly.

And this afternoon after church, we went to lunch with our good friends the Fleming's. They are moving to Washington next month and we met them for lunch to catch up and say our goodbyes.

 I will really miss these wonderful friends of ours. We went to the same church for years. They were there for us when Chandler was born and after he passed. They were there when Mark became the youth pastor at that church and encouraged us so much. They were there for us with the adoption of Ethan and Ethan is so very special to them, almost like he is their grandson. They were always thoughtful, loving, kind and so funny! I will never forget the love the poured out to us when Chandler died. They will truly be missed, but they will be 15 minutes away from their daughter, Yvonne. The Lord has worked miraculous with this move and every thing has gone so smoothly. This just proves that God knows the desire's of our hearts and he can do above all we ask and even think .

Ethan, Marion, Mark & Bob

Ethan, Marion, Me & Bob

Ephesians 3:20
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.

We love you Bob & Marion.

Thankful Thursday

I'm back in the swing of things at work after our vacation. Just one week ago we were in Branson. Our vacation absolutely flew by.

Well, I did find a few things I'm thankful for to help me through my first week back at work.

Added a few of these babies to my ice cream.

My new favorite gum.

I found this the other day! Heaven...

Thin Mint Nestle Crunch!!

So, since I'm on this chocolate mint kick, the only logical cookies I could make for cookie Friday are these...

Chocolate Mint Cookies!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's a picture of Emily's Popsicle she wanted to show you...

Anyway, I'm thankful for a good week back at work. I'm thankful for the job I have, (even though I'd drop it in a minute to be a SAH mom, if I could!!), and that I found all these wonderful things in chocolate mint.

Oh yeah, I'm sharing my recipe for these wonderful cookies. I hope you like chocolate mint and enjoy!

Chocolate Mint Cookies
Adapted from allrecipes.com

I was able to get about 4 dozen cookies.

6 tbl butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbl water
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup mint chocolate chips (I used Andes baking mints)
1 egg
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp peppermint extract
More Andes baking mint chips for melting on top of cookies


1. Heat the butter, sugar and water in a small pot over medium heat; stir occasionally until melted. Remove from heat and pour in both semisweet & mint chips. Stir until melted. Set the mixture aside to cool for 10 minutes.

2. Pour the chocolate into a mixing bowl and beat in the egg. In separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir into the chocolate mixture. Add the extract and stir again. Put the dough into the fridge for 1 hour to chill.

3. Preheat oven to 350. Grease the cookie sheets.

4. Roll the dough into 1-inch sized balls and place the cookies about 2 inches apart. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Do no overbake.

5. When cookies are removed from the oven, sprinkle some of the baking mint chips on each cookies. Let the chips melt slightly and spread the chocolate with a knife or back of spoon to cover the top of the cookies. Cool completely and enjoy!

Father's Day, Post #2

For the men at church on Father's Day, I made these...

and added these...

All guys like root beer right?

Last year, they were at hit.

Last time I was at Hobby Lobby, I found these cute little Chinese food containers.

 So, I wondered how hard it would be make fortune cookies. I found this recipe. They were really easy and turned out so cute.

I put a little slip inside the cookie that said Happy Father's Day, wrapped them in cello bags and put them in the little containers. I then added a tag to the outside of the container that said "We're Fortunate Your Here.". They were a big hit.

I hope everyone had a great Father's Day.

Branson Trip, Post #2 & Happy Father's Day

Here are a few more pics from our Branson trip.

Silver Dollar City was so pretty. I loved the old fashioned feel to it. They had beautiful flowers everywhere.

We rode the train which took us all over SDC. They did a little skit where our train was robbed by two hillbilly brothers, and we were sitting in the perfect seats on the train. They did the whole thing right in front of us. The kids got a big kick out of this.

The guys on the train.

The guys robbing our train and the conductor.

More fun, rides and games...

Right before we left, we let the kids pick out a sweet treat. It was really warm, so they chose an Icee.

On Wednesday afternoon, we went and way the play Joseph.

The theater was beautiful. This production was amazing. They did a really good job in making a Bible story come to life for my children. There were live animals all throughout the play and I loved seeing the excitement and wonder in my children's faces. Of course, they told us up front that they had to add to the story and some characters to the play. But we made sure and told the kids up front that the story of Joseph was absolutely true. 

The kids are still talking about some of the funny parts of the play. When we got home, Emily ran to her room and found the story of Joseph in her Bible and wanted me to read it to her. I love it!!!

We were right up front and on the isle seat, so the animals ran right by us. During intermission, a snack cart was brought in and the kids were allowed to pick a snack with the money they saved for the trip. They enjoyed their king sized skittles and snickers while watching the rest of the play.

All and all we had a great time. The kids enjoyed themselves and loved seeing all the sights. We had a safe trip and I'm glad to be home.

And since today is Father's Day, I want to say Happy Father's Day to two special men.

My dad.

Such a wonderful Godly influence on me, my husband and my children. With a great since of humor to go along with it. I love you Dad! I'm so lucky to have a wonderful father in my life.

And, my hubby.

I adore you! You're a wonderful father, so patient and kind, yet such a strong leader. You have been by my side through the death of our two sons, the adoption of Ethan and the birth of Emily. Your love for the kids and I are unquestionable. I thank God for you all the time.

Branson Trip, Post #1

We are officially back from Branson, Missouri! We had a wonderful time. Mark and I were very excited about this vacation. We haven't had a real vacation since 2003. It was time.

Around 5am on Monday morning, we packed up the car, grabbed the kiddos and was out the door and on our way out of Texas.

Emily all smiles while traveling.

Mark was so good at stopping in each state so momma can get these cheesy pictures made.

Before we left, I made the kids a snack box for the kids in case they wanted a snack on the way. This saved us from having to buy snacks on the road and saved us money, too.

I bought a couple of containers with dividers at the dollar store and filled it with granola bars, fruit snacks, PB crackers, Cheetos, cookies, juice and little bottles of water.

After 12 long, long, long hours, we made it to Branson, Missouri.

We checked into our hotel, which was across from the Hollywood Wax museum. The kids loved seeing this.

We spent the next two days at Silver Dollar City.

The first ride we rode we saw the kids were tall enough to ride. So, we blindly went through the opening, walked through the maze of ropes and up the stairs to the ride, not knowing it was a roller coaster. When we found out what it was, I looked at Mark and told him I didn't think Emily would want to ride. She said she did. We tried to explain to her it was a roller coaster. She insisted. We told her what what might happen. She said she wanted to ride. We said ok.

After the ride, she cried and cried and cried. She was scared to death. After that, we had to coax her onto all the other rides. But, it was so sweet to hear her daddy talk to her on the rides where they rode together, and comfort her, telling her he would hold on to her and that there was nothing to be afraid of.

After the roller coaster

I told her to smile and say "I survived my 1st roller coaster ride!"

All smiles on the teacups.

My sweet babies.