I hope you like picture updates! :)

So a few of the girls came over so we could test out Mrs. Houk's Frosted Pumpkin Bars Wednesday night! They were a huge success! We went to dinner with our boys to the Flying Fish first. That was pretty interesting because we picked the table next to the men's restoom! That was a big mistake. Then we headed home to break out the ingredients and get started! We had a few setbacks....but a "little" outdated flour and a few minutes working with sifter and we were good to go! :)

Hanna...gettin' a little crazy with the mixer!

Chelsea had to use a makeshift apron for Hanna because she was making a mess!

Trying to get the right amount on each pan....it needed to look "thinnish" :)

They are in the oven and we are ready for them to come out.....

They are all ready to go in my handy little carrier that my mom got me for our wedding! Can't believe I havent used it yet! ;) You can check out Chelsea's blog for the full recipe! But I would HALF the recipe if I were you! They make a TON!! :)

I finally got to bed around 1:00 a.m......I had to stay up late to ice them after the girls left!  I got about 8 hours of sleep and was well rested for our 3 meals that we had to eat on Thanksgiving! Or should I say "got" to eat on Thanksgiving! We are soooo blessed. I love having so much family to see. 

Having a place to go is home,
Having someone to love is family,
Having both is a blessing.


Here are pics from a couple of our stops! ;) I didn't get any at the last house because I could barely move at that point! But, our first stop was Chris' granny on his mother's side, then off to my sister's house for my family gathering (and a little Wii action), and then back to Chris' parents house for the grand finale! :) All three meals were phenomenal I must say!

At our house before we left...

Me and my Momma! She was hanging on to our every word all day to get ideas for Christmas gifts! ;)

Chris and his Granny! Aka "Superwoman" We just LOVE her!

Playing the Wii......I'm up to bat and serious as a heart attack! I hit 2 homeruns! :)  I also managed to hit the ceiling fan with the remote while trying to spike a volleyball! Haha! I had no idea it could not sense me jumping, so it was pointless! :)

Momma and Chris going at it in the boxing ring! Chris got KNOCKED out! Haha.

Kathy is teaching me how to hoola hoop!

Giving it a shot! My husband is probably hiding his head in the couch somewhere! Lol.

My favorite little brother, Russell!

And my favorite sister, Kathy! Love her.

And I can't forget Devin! She's my....well I'm sure you can guess.....favorite niece!

Haha, I am sure glad I only have one of all of the above because it would be so hard to choose! I love them to pieces.  I was missing my nephew Haydn though! I hope to see him over Christmas! Same with my brother and sister in law!  Things are just never the same without you guys here! See you over Christmas!

We had SUCH a great break and I am so thankful to be in a job that I am not dreading going back to on Monday! Ahhh! That feels so good! I'm happy to be back to work tomorrow! Just a few more weeks and we will be ready for Christmas! I won't get much of a break because that's when retail gets the craziest! But, that's okay. Like I told my mom....I taught school for 3 years, I can do ANYTHING for a couple of months! ;)

Kris called and invited us over to watch the Razorback game on Saturday night. His mom had told us a while back that he would be in town over Thanksgiving and we needed to come hang out but we wanted to give them their family time.  We know his schedule has been so crazy.  But, he called to extend the offer once again.  So we ate a yummy dinner at the Grissom's around 4:30 and hung out for a bit and then headed to the Allen Casa. It was great to see everybody and for he and Katy to just be at home for a little while.  It's hard to not feel "at home" at Kim Allen's house! ;) Despite the Razorback's loss, we were all smiles.

And last, but certainly not least...I got to see my best friend, Anna, while she was in for the holiday! She and Tim were so gracious to bring another couple home for Thanksgiving and it was fun just getting to hang out and chat for a bit!  She even brought me a birthday present!! I got some new "sweater" boots and I LOVE them! They could not be more perfect. She always knows what to get me.  We kind of have a rule of thumb.....if we would like it, we know the other probably will too, so we usually just buy 2! :) Thanks so much for my gifts! I loved them all! Looking forward to your next visit and our next breakfast! Love you!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well! Christmas......here we come!!!!! I will get more pictures with the in-laws next time, too!

Thanksgiving Blessings

Last week's wednesday night dinner rotation was at Chelsea and Del's house and it was their first time to host it. We all brought food, but let me tell you....the Slonekers went ABOVE AND BEYOND to make sure that we all had a great time together. When we got there Chelsea had baked pumpkin bread, pumpkin bread with chocolate chips, and amish friendship bread. One for every couple to take home! I know the girl had to be up all night! And they were so delicious that Chris and I snuck (is that a word?) out with two loaves! ;)

Chelsea decided to come up with a Thanksgiving Poem from our dinner and it could not be more perfect. I had to share it with you all! Enjoy! :)

"Twas 3 Weeks Before Thanksgiving"

Twas 3 weeks before Thanksgiving, when all through the house

The main lady was stirring, in her pretty white blouse.

The apron was hung around her neck with great care

In hopes that her "family" would soon be there.

The "family" arrived to the smell of sweet bread

While visions of fried-turkey danced in their head.

The table was set with home-y decor,

That would bring back memories of Thanksgiving's before.

When the casseroles were revealed, there arose such a clatter.

I thought the neighbors would come see what was the matter

But low-and-behold it was the sound of ready plates,

knowing that we were all about to gain a little bit of weight.

Del and Kyle carved the turkey with care,

Because they knew the wishbone had to be somewhere.

Even though we're little early for this wonderful feast,

We were ready to dine on that succulent beast! (Ha!)

Once we were nestled all snug in our chairs

we bowed our head for our Thanksgiving prayer.

We gave thanks for all that we'd been given in life

especially for us girls...that we'd be a good wife.

Us girls love these guys with all of our hearts

because they are just such goofy sweethearts.

Yes, I know from this picture you'd say,

"Are they really going to be my physician someday?"

But, if I can assure you of just one thing,

they will love you with any ailment you bring.

Oh, Family Dinner, you are the BEST,

but it is now time for us to rest.

We will cherish your friendship all the days of our life,

Thank you so much for letting Christ's light shine so bright!

The End

p.s. Please excuse the random spacing (or lack of :), I tried to fix it about 6 times and it kept going back! So I gave up on that!

November just might be my favorite month!

I really can't believe today is November 1st, but I am so excited about it! My birthday is in only a few short weeks (actually less than 2), and Thanksgiving is right around the corner! I just love it. Good... wonderful food.... not prepared by me! Haha. :) Actually, I am thinking about making a pumpkin cake this year. I was supposed to "try it out" this weekend and just never did. Maybe next weekend. I am looking forward to having a DEFINITE day off for Chris and I both! I will be working like crazy after that though because the Christmas crowd comes in full force. At least we hope they will. :) I am looking forward to getting off my rear and buzzing around to help people find just what they need for the holidays! I hope that my team leaders will have their staff bright eyed and bushy tailed that morning (around 5 or 6 usually). I am hoping to get a decent night's rest and go in a little later because I know once I go in, it'll be a while before I can leave again! ;) But it's a lot of fun when we all get to work together!

October has really flown by. Work was great, I got to visit all of my stores and even take a trip to Fayetteville to learn how to do payroll and help take some of the load off of Ashley (my General Manger). She really appreciated it, and I hope to go at least once a month to help because it really seemed to help her day go by more smoothly. Houndstooth is meeting sales goals and we hope to continue in this direction! We have big plans for 2009 totals and hope to make it happen. We have some great teams in place. I hope that your experience at ANY Houndstooth is a good one and if it's not....you just let me know! ;) Customer service is our number one priority. Ashley and I are only a month apart, very young, very ambitious, and very confident that we can make a difference.

So....... every other Wednesday some of our friends get together at each other's houses. We have a rotation for who hosts the dinners. Now that it's every other week, a couple of months go by before the rotation is back to you and you are cooking for 10-14 people. It's fun to prepare it for that time, but also nice to know that you get free dinners every other Wednesday for a couple of months. The last one was at Kristin and Kyle's and we had breakfast for dinner! It was scrumptious! Pancakes, biscuits and gravy (which I had NEVER tasted...by choice I might add), bacon, muffins, scrambled eggs, and fruit! Man......they went all out and we so appreciated it. I can't actually post the picture of Chis and I (standing) because it somewhat resembles a maternity picture. The problem with that is........I am NOT pregnant! Haha. :) We all wore our p.j.'s, which we usually do when we have this type of "dinner". I skipped my usual shower that I take before bed and opted to wash my face, brush my teeth, and go straight to my bed in my p.j.'s! It was quite nice. Our next dinner is at Chelsea and Del's house and we are doing Thanksgiving dinner! This is their first time to host it and we are going to go easy on them and make it a pot luck. It could get pretty pricey purchasing a Thankgiving meal for 10-14! I am so excited though! Here are some pictures from last week!

There have been some ideas thrown around about making a dress code for each dinner. This scares me a bit. They are talking bright colored windsuits. Yes..windsuits! :) This could be interesting. Goodwill, here I come! Us girls have also talked about starting a book club which I would love to do. We shall see. We had one great year of dinners EVERY Wednesday night last year, and I look forward to this years. It's so much fun to eat and fellowship with others going through the same thing. :)

I just booked my flight to visit my sister-in-law in January. Her husband is going out of town for 5 weeks to attend professional umpire school. She is going to be alone for all of this time, so we figured I should come in the middle of it to help pass some of the time! It worked out because I am sure I will be ready to take some leave after our big holiday rush. Even if she has some work to do while I'm there, it will still be a nice little escape for me to finally do some of the reading that I've been wanting to do. And the ticket was the cheapest I have gotten in a while. $246.00 and that inlcudes tax and fees. Very hard to beat, so I'm not even going to try. Glad to have a date in my calendar. Get ready, Portland! Billie Jo and I will be ready to find some post holiday deals........

Well I think that is about all for me tonight! I spent a lot of Saturday night changing my background and by the time I was done I was too tired to post. :) Sunday's might be a good night for me to do my blogging. Hope to have more to say next time. Good night, all. I hope this finds you well.