small towns, part 1

 One thing I absolutely LOVE about living in Georgia are all the small quaint towns within a 30 minute drive from us.  Yesterday, we had to pick up my husband from work since our other car is in the shop.  We got down to Smyrna 30 minutes early and decided to head 7 minutes down from his building to discover the cute town of Vinings.  I have driven by Vinings a handful of times but it seems even more enchanting in the rain.  It has history written all over it, and even the newer shops maintain the whimsical white paint, green roof motif the entire town has.  Even the CVS pharmacy is adorable, can't believe I forgot to take a picture of that!
The visitor center has old pictures, maps and journals of the first families and leaders from the town.  The original windows still have the signature of Walter (last name I forget, but he was pretty important) etched in the glass, you can barely see it in the middle picture.  Of course Charlie was more curious with the trap door to the basement cellar than anything else but he behaved himself enough that the tour guide asked us to come back! And come back we will!

sip and see

I want to come back blogging in an effort to share myself, all of me.  Not just updating on family milestones but writing about the things that make me tick, or not tick each day.  The past 3 1/2 years I have been waiting and waiting for things to happen, the type of things that anyone would expect to occur within the last 3 1/2 years. In retrospect, I would get sad and disappointed that we didn't progress in ways everyone else seemed to be.

Our main goal was to have more children 

and for our family to grow.  

We didn't grow in the way I would have expected, 
but we did grow. 
In heart and strength.
In having charity and love.  
In patience and endurance.
In relating to others and having empathy.  
In all, we have only learned and progressed to be more like Christ, which is our most divine goal and life-long desire. 

I have found that having a hope for all things gets me through the day.  I hope to have a family continually growing in the Gospel.  Hope to be happy in all things.  Hope to settle down and buy a home and a hope for more children.
Which is why I am writing this blog, to keep the hope alive and burning strong.

 

The BEST Super Bowl QUESO dip

I present...

Julie Boyack Smith. She will be your hero in just a minute.

Back story:
Thanksgiving 2010 my parents came up to Utah to visit us. We stopped by the Macey's grocery store in Spanish Fork and low and behold, we stumbled upon Julie. She was passing out samples of food from her new cookbook. We obliged, obviously and were taken away into a food coma! My mom bought me a cookbook and I used it immediately.



This right here is a beauty and a true treasure to me! Now, let me share the mouthwatering Queso Dip from her book that has been requested every super bowl party as well as any time our friends meet up. It is the most successful thing I have every made, and I'm not kidding. Oh, wait until teenagers try this...they will be asking for the recipe and well, teenagers don't do that. EVER!!

Behold, the BEST Super Bowl Queso Dip!

1 can RoTel diced tomatoes with green chilies
1 (16 oz.) pkg. Velveeta cheese block, cut into cubes
2-3 cans HORMEL chili WITH beans

Do NOT buy generic or any other brands, I promise it won't taste good, at all!! Blend all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat about 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Transfer to a crockpot and set to warm/low until party starts and keep setting to warm. Serve with tortilla chips. (this recipe can be doubled, tripled...you name it!)

Let me know how it turns out!!

I'm back and ready to blog!

 Oh my!  

A WHOLE year has gone by and I haven't blogged!  

Here are a few reasons why... 

1.  Instagram took over my life and found it much easier to post pics on there and even facebook.

2.  No one was blogging anymore.  Friends stopped updating, using said Instagram instead and that became my way to keep in contact with friends and family.

3.  I didn't feel blogging was an outlet for me anymore.

Now, I feel this sudden urge to blog again. There is so much updating to be had, but for now enjoy our conference weekend photos.  We headed to a pumpkin patch 2 blocks away from our abode in between sessions on Saturday. 

Take note of the awesome hillbilly pumpkin patch activities...

{ "mommy, I want this one!" }

{ dreamy, right?! }

 

That's all folks!!  See you in a few days!!

my 3 year old!!

Wow, my little Charlie Owen III is 3 years old now!!!

What a celebration it was too!

We started out the morning with pancakes made by daddy.

We went to church, I got a new calling... in Relief Society again (which I love, but will miss my sunbeams and activity day girls),

came home, ate dinner with my father in law, sister Leanna and her family. 

Lastly, we had a little birthday party for a few of Charlie's friends from our ward!

We had carrots with dip, apple cider doughnuts we got from BJ Reece apple orchard, water and the amazing chocolate pudding cake... which is a tradition now!!

The kiddos played while us adults played the Dellenbach name game and just chatted.

It was very low-key and fun!

That morning was a bit sad for me, due to the fact that my little guy didn't have a sibling by his 3rd birthday.  Well, I can't say we didn't try! :(

Luckily, we had an amazing General Conference and Elder Eyring's talk touched my heart in such a strong way.  These last three years I was only supposed to have one child to love, care for and teach.  Only one.  How blessed I am to have him.  I know this is supposed to be a trial for me, a trial that I need to depend on the Savior to help me through.  The weeks and months that pass I learn more of the Lord's will for me, and how wonderful it is... especially with my little Charlie in my life!

 



Date Night(s)

 

We had two date nights in a row!!!  Wha...What?!!

On Friday night, we dropped off little Charlie at Grandma and Grandpa's condo downtown.  We then walked to dinner and walked another 5 minutes to the Fox Theater!  We saw "Anna and the King" and it was fabulous!  I love musicals and I have been listening/singing along to the music of this play for many years so it was great to see the actual show.  To have live music and live performers is something I will always love!  

Saturday our good friends in the ward, John and Emily Phillips invited us out to sushi.  They used to be Charlie's YSA advisors back when he was single and they just love him!  Charlie also home teaches their family so we have gotten to know them pretty well.  In fact, during the last season of The Bachelorette, Emily invited me over each week to watch the episodes with her girls!  Anyways, back to sushi, we haven't gone out to sushi in a long time and it was nice to try a new place.  The Phillip kids watched little Charlie and they did a great job!  We all ordered our own rolls but shared and I think everyone liked mine the best... Salmon tempura roll!  It was priced very reasonably and we ended up spending less than going to a chain restaurant like Chiles or Mac Grill!   Let's see when the next time we have 2 date nights in a row... perhaps a few years!!

I admit...

I bought my first ever Scentsy wax and warmer! I never really liked the whole idea of it because I love my candles from anthropology and the ambiance that comes from a lit candle. After a great scentsy party at my friend Jenny Wood's house, I fell in love. And I fell in love with this wax warmer! It's called heirloom. I chose a nice, might I add strong scent to melt. It's called mocha doodle and it smells like the candle my mom lit in our home when I was in high school called German streusel cake from Salt Lake candles. Mmm it smells so good and reminds me of my momma!

Labor Day weekend

Holy smokes, we had a BUSY Labor Day weekend!!  Before I forget, did you see my little munchkin in those photos of him sleeping and waking up?!!  I just want to eat those cheeks!  It's all he has left of being a baby, and I love it!

It all started on Thursday when me and little Char drove with Leanna and Ernesto to Birmingham, Alabama for a quick visit.  We got to see my two older brothers Luke and Karl!!  We had so much fun that night, so many laughs and really just a good time!  I ordered my first steak EVER!  I only got a 6oz. and I still didn't eat it all but it was good.  No regrets!  We played games that night as we watched the Republican National Convention... so great!

When we drove back to Georgia we found out my niece and nephew from New Orleans evacuated and needed a place to stay for the weekend due to Hurricane Isaiac.  They stayed at our place and luckily my SIL Reba was there to help too!  

For Labor Day, we had big plans to go to Acworth Beach but it was overcast and raining/sprinkling so we headed to Atlanta for a fun day.  We explored Grandma and Grandpas amenities at their building and just hung out at the condo downtown.  The adults minus Grandpa Charles headed to Atlantic Station to watch Dark Knight Rises for our 2nd time!!  We loved it!  Although the weekend didn't go as planned, we still had a good time and loved having family in town!

mini vacation

We are headed out of town for a very mini vacation, like less than 24 hours type of vacation. Time to see some of my siblings tonight! Charlie is so so excited, he can't wait to leave!

Mornings around this neck

Our mornings are simple. After my hubby leaves early in the morning for work, Little Charlie wakes up and walks to my bedroom, opens the door, climbs in bed with me and we cuddle for a few minutes while I wake up. He then goes potty, puts on underwear, we go downstairs and eat breakfast. He is always in such a good, happy mood in the morning. He starts the day off right.