Our Puppies

We have two wonderful dogs, who suffice for children, for the time being.  Their names are Maddie (the yellow lab) and Gunner (the chocolate lab).  Andrew and Maddie have been a couple for four years now.  She came into my life a little bit later on.  She is an elitist.  She didn't always play with other dogs, because she felt that she was a human.  Gunner was my wedding gift from Andrew.  I have had him envisioned in my heart for ten years.  I knew I wanted a chocolate lab with blue eyes that I would name Gunner.  My puppy is lacking in the blue eye category, but I still think he was the perfect pup to fulfill my dreams. :)  He is six months old, now, and I have had a hard time coping with his rapid growth.  If this is anything close to motherhood, then I am going to have a hard time.  They keep our lives interesting.  They love being with each other, in our back yard.  We are blessed with crazy (good looking) dogs, who sometimes drive me nuts!

Slideshow of Baby Rhett

Here is a small slideshow from Baby Rhett's arrival to the family trip to AR.

The Slide Show of Baby Rhett

Baby Rhett's First Road Trip

     This past weekend Andrew and I were blessed to have his whole family come to Arkansas for a visit.  His parents and grandparents rented a little cabin on the river and so we all were able to enjoy the beauty and the solitude of getting out of town during the days.

     His sister and her husband stayed in our little 2 bedroom 1 bathroom home with us, along with our perfect little nephew...Rhett Nathan Waller.  He is such a beautiful boy.  He was the reason for this get together.  I was able to go to TX for his arrival into this crazy world, but Andrew had to work.  His younger brother, Adam, goes to school here in town and their big sister is making sure that Rhett knows his uncles. :)  It was such a good weekend.  It really felt like a major holiday.  We are reaping the Lord's blessings through our family.  We are spread out between TX, TN, and AR.  And compared to most people, that isn't too bad.  We are loving being an Uncle and Auntie!  And we anticipate the arrival of our niece, Bonnie, in Feburary.

Everybody did their best to get some major lovin' in on Rhett!

The Ingle (and Waller) Family Photos

We are striving for #1 Uncle and Auntie awards

The river and the trees provided a perfect backdrop for our pictures.  We also we fortunate to have Adam's girlfriend join us for part of the weekend.

Fall Treats

     Last week I enjoyed testing out my Williams-Sonoma pocket pies.  They are so fun to make and produce a very cute treat.  I bought, both, the apple and pumpkin mold, due to the fall season.  I used the crust recipe from the box because I thought it might hold together a little better and it didn't taste too bad.  I would recommend using the fillings that is sold at Williams-Sonoma.  I made my own, but the normal, runny consistency (especially pumpkin pie) is not so great for these pies.  I ended up having to add another can of pumpkin and a little cornstarch to thicken the mixture up a bit.  All in all, I love getting to put these together.  They were perfect with vanilla ice cream!  It was a pleasure to make them for my in-laws who came into town for the weekend.  

     My sister and I have enjoyed the art of baking and decorating cookies for many, many years, especially during the holidays. :)   To celebrate the season, and so I could have something to nibble on for my guests, we made some fall cookies.  They do bring us so much joy!  She is very good a paying attention to detail (notice the leaves).

The Birthday Party House

     Andrew and I are so blessed to have the house we are renting right now.  We love our little 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom home.  It is an older house with so much personality.  One of it best assets is that it is a great place to host birthday parties!..at least in our family.  We have celebrated my husband's, my sister's, my brother's, and my brother-in-law's birthdays all in our sweet little home.  Cookies, cupcakes, apple pies, key lime cheesecake are all part of the festivities.  I am truly grateful to the Lord for blessing us with the ability to celebrate the lives of our family member.

Apple Butter...Yummy!

     This past weekend my family attended a friend's wedding in Northwest Arkansas.  Part of their decor was a bucket of apples.  It was a very cute touch for a fall wedding.  I cannot imagine having spent these past six months engaged to Andrew, instead of being married, however; a fall wedding would have been our first choice.  Weddings are great, but in perspective, they've got nothing on the being married part!  Ok...I got sidetracked, where was I?  Oh yes, after the reception was finished I offered my services on the clean up crew by confiscating some of the decorations (aka 14 Granny Smith Apples).  This lead me to my week of apples.

     Andrew and I had friends over one night and I made Smoked Gouda Stuffed Chicken with Apples and an Apple Dapple Cake.  This accounted for about 8 of the supply of wedding apples.  But my big project for the week was to make Apple Butter.  I was so pleased with the way it turned out.  My father informed me that he ate half of the jar I gave to him and my mom, in one sitting.  I used a recipe by Elise Bauer from her website simplyrecipes.com.  The only alteration I made was I used pumpkin pie spice instead of all spice.  It was quite labor intensive, but well worth it!  I made my own labels to put on the jars and it has been very fun to give out.

   The apple butter left me with 2 remaining Granny Smiths that are being added to for Pocket Pies this weekend.  Needless to say, I am now convinced that I need an Granny Smith Apple Tree in my back yard.  They are not my favorite to eat raw, but they are my favorite to bake with.  There are so many wonderful things to still be created!

    This is my FAVORITE tool when it comes to cooking with apples...

It may look old-fashioned, but it peels, it cores, and it slices apples perfectly.  I am very slow when it comes to peeling apples.  I would highly recommend it!

A Real Simple Surprise

     A few days ago, I was pulling into my driveway in the pouring rain, after a long day of work, and glimmering from my tiny mailbox by my door was...the beautiful, thick November issue of Real Simple magazine.

All the sudden being a little bit soggy from the rain or being covered in spit up didn't seem to be so bad.  I was about to get to sit inside my cute house, with a fire burning, reading my favorite magazine.  It's not that it is the best collection of Thanksgiving recipes out on the market (although, I can't wait to try them!  They sound delicious!), it is just the fact that it is one of many composites of information on the market in which I have chosen to invest my time, money, and faith for recipes and decor, that is paying tribute to my most favorite season of all. FALL.  It really is the simple things in life...

Wedded Bliss

     Here are some details from our wedding.  It was such a special day for us.  The location was highly influenced by the rain, but the spirit of joy that was evident wasn't going to be quenched.  I love my pictures and I would highly recommend my photographer, especially if you are in the Little Rock area.

My photographer is Sarah Bussey in Little Rock, AR

www.sarahbusseyphotography.com

We love our family.

     We had a very large wedding party.  We are blessed with wonderful friends and family.

My bridesmaids wore J.Crew dresses in Espresso.  I let them choose from three different styles.  I also gave my honorary and junior attendants cardigans to wear during the ceremony.

Andrew was proud of his "No Sock" look.

     This is the original setting for our wedding...my parents' backyard.  But the rain called for a change in location.  My dad put in lots of man hours to get things ready.  It's a good thing he loves to work in the yard, so it wasn't a waste. :)

New To The Game...

Here we go... This is my first experience with blogging and I must say, I am a little nervous.   How do people find interesting things to write about on a day-to-day basis?  I am a new bride (approaching 6 months of marriage), a daytime nanny, the mother of two wild dogs, and a domestic enthusiast.  Hopefully, there will be something of interest for friends and family members.  Over and Out.