Texas

For part of midwinter break, Suzie and I traveled down to Austin, Texas to visit our dear friend Sally and her fun family. I loved this trip, much more than I thought I would. Sally is such a great hostess and I felt so at home while I was there. We enjoyed time in the hot tub, lots of ice cream, very yummy food that included TexMex and barbecue, lots of driving and bonding time, touring the Alamo, Blue Bell Creamery and the Riverwalk. We also enjoyed some down time that included many card games and watching the Olympics. It was such a great trip and Suzie and I are already talking about when we will go next.

Cooper, the cutest puppy! I so wanted to take him home with me!

Sally and I outside of Blue Bell Creamery, home of the best ice cream around! It was so yummy and we made sure we enjoyed some ice cream every day we were there. We also stopped at Sonic drive-in every day (once we stopped twice in one day). I LOVED their sweet tea and cherry limeade...yum!

Suzie and I outside of the creamery. We enjoyed a nice tour and some samples of their yummy ice cream.

These chairs were right outside the Life is Good store on the Riverwalk in San Antonio. I really want to buy these chairs, they are too cute! I loved this store as it had some many Life is Good things that I had never seen before...pure heaven! :)

Suzie, Sally, and I on the Riverwalk boat tour. This was very interesting! Even though it was very cold that day, we really enjoyed ourselves! We also took a trip to the Alamo as it is very close to the Riverwalk.

Valentine's Day

My class enjoyed a very fun Valentine's Day party that was put on by my amazing room mom. She had some many fun events planned and yummy food. It was a great time had by all. Here are some pictures to prove it.

Maddie and I enjoying a photo moment.

Stella decorating her cookie in preparation for tic-tac-toe.

Yummy chocolate covered strawberries and cupcakes!

My class enjoyed a very fun Valentine's Day party that was put on by my amazing room mom. She had some many fun events planned and yummy food. It was a great time had by all. Here are some pictures to prove it.

Christmas

Wow! It has been a long time since I posted on here! Oops! Christmas and my birthday were absolutely fabulous! Before I left for break, my students spoiled me rotten with a birthday party and many gifts that were just perfect for me (gift cards, scrapbooking/card making materials and elephant things).

I then went to Auburn for 10 days and enjoyed my time there. Before the rest of the family showed up, I enjoyed some great time with old friends. One who I hadn't seen since Jr. High and we reconnected right away, my 4th grade teacher and my best friend from my childhood who I am more and more thankful for as the years go by.

Once everyone arrived, fun times were had! I just love being an auntie (and I love the rest of my family too)! Some highlights from our family time:

1) Playing the Wii with just about every family member.
2) Going to a King's game with "the boys".
3) After Christmas shopping
4) Shopping with my mom before and after Christmas.
5) Snuggling with sweet baby 'Lias who is a nonstop smiler and giggler.
6) Hearing Sydney call me "Amber" some days and "Auntie" on other days.
7) A late night Carl's Jr. run with Steve and Nick only to find that it was closed.

Here are some pictures to show the fun we had:

Micah, Grampy and Sydney...too precious!

The two "big" cousins

The two "little" cousins. It was so cute how intrigued Levi was with Elias!

Micah and Sydney delivering my birthday balloons...they were so proud!

There are many more pictures but apparently my blog only wants me to post these four! Bummer! I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Cali with my family and then was able to enjoy some vacation time back here in Seattle...loved it!

Now, back to the real world...

Things I love and am thankful for

These last few weeks have been extremely hectic with gearing up for Thanksgiving and Christmas with my class, hitting crunch time in my master's classes, finishing up coaching volleyball and being involved in two different small groups. It is so easy to get caught up in all the craziness and feel overwhelmed. I was thinking this morning that I just need to chill and take a minute and think about some things that I am truly thankful for and dwell on those things instead of the craziness that lies ahead.

Here are some things I am thankful for:

1) a wonderful class full of precious students who make me laugh on a daily basis
2) friends who challenge me to become a better person
3) a great family
4) I get to go home in a week and spend time with my parents and precious Grampy
5) new tires on my car that keep me safe during this crazy Seattle weather
6) God's loves and grace
7) a great job which I look forward to everyday

The list could go on but these are just some of the things that I am thinking about today. It really has worked to help me regain my focus and not become so bogged down by all that is expected of me right now!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

My roommate found this recipe (allrecipes.com) and we have already baked these yummy cookies twice. They are amazing and disappear quite fast. I made some to give to my volleyball girls this week for their tournaments (and for my roommates to enjoy as well!). I thought I would share this yummy goodness with you as well!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies III

Ingredients:

• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions:

1. Combine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Dissolve the baking soda with the milk and stir in. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well.
2. Add vanilla, chocolate chips and nuts.
3. Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown and firm.

Yields 2 dozen.

The Perfect Fall Day

On Saturday, Micah called me asking if I wanted to join them at the pumpkin patch. Of course! :) We had a great time, it was really the perfect fall day. We went to Swanson's nursery which had a ton of free kids activities including a hay ride, a hay maze, face painting, potato car making and pumpkin decorating. Micah loved it and Levi especially liked the hay maze.

Heather taking the boys for a wagon ride while we waited for the hay ride.

I love the very different expressions on both boys faces. Micah is super excited and Levi really isn't so sure.

It took us a while to get Levi to cooperate for this picture!

Levi peeking at me through the hay.

I can't figure out how to flip this video, hopefully you can get the gist of it. Levi was so proud of his walking skills.

Levi's Birthday Weekend

The whole family was together for Levi's first birthday. It was a great weekend full of laughs and fun times. Here are some photos to document the weekend. Levi really enjoyed his cake once he figured out what it was. I think he loved all of the attention and laughs he was getting most of all.

Levi was trying to figure out what this big orange ball was.

The cousins ready for an infamous Bobst/Scott/VanArsdel family walk.

Cute baby Elias enjoying some snuggles with Gramma.

I love this video. This is proof that we have some music talent in our family.