Friday, September 28, 2012

Fall Fun

I LOVE Fall!
 
This is definitely my favorite season...the colors, smells, weather and football of course. 


Our Fall Bucket List this year includes:
Take a fall foliage drive
Pick pumpkins together (check)
Go to a football game
Host a fall dinner party (check)
Make pumpkin bread and share with friends (check)
Enjoy the outdoors (check)
Roast marshmallows
Make apple cider
Celebrate Octoberfest
Go to a costume party

Trying to get our pumpkin display just right.  (Ben picked gonzo in the back.)



 Enjoying the nice fall weather at the driving range.  I actually made contact with the ball too. 
We hope to continue practicing so that maybe one day I can make it on the course. 


...Fall is a time for baking...
Momo's Pumpkin Bread
3 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 small can of pumpkin
Beat first three ingredients together
Add:
1 cup oil
2/3 cup water
3 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. pumpkin spice
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp. soda
Bake @ 350 for 45 minutes
Bread making tip from my good friend, Tammi...
Spray pan with Pam then sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on the bottom.
Below is the loaf pan that I use from Williams Sonoma.
2008_09_10-LoafPan.jpg
It makes a LOVELY fall gift...(check)!



Saturday night we had a small dinner party with the McKowens and Wadkins...(check).
After a delicious dinner we played a few rounds of the game Catch Phrase...lots of laughs!!!!


Our menu...

Bone In Pork Chops
Pumpkin Risotto
Pea Salad (compliments of Julie)
Garlic Focaccia Bread
Maple Glazed Apple Cinnamon Roll Cake (compliments of Jennifer)



Girls = round one champion pose


I guess the guys had to win a game too! 

love & joy, 
     Ali 

Sunday, September 9, 2012

PERRY...


 

Perry is our new dog that Ben's dad gave us.  He is a minature Australian Shepard.... 


...We definitely enjoy having him around the house. He is already a sweet cuddler.
We think his days and nights are a lttle mixed up though...he went from living on the farm where he used to sleep through the heat of the day and run the fence line at night with his brothers when the coyotes were howling....so, in the past two weeks he has gone from being an outside dog on a horse farm to an inside city slicker...lol!

Perry was a hit at our neighborhood cookout hosted by our good friends Megan and Brandon. 
Megan even made doggie ice cream but Perry wasn't sure about that yet. 
We love our Perry!

A few more pics from that night...
Neighbors...Kayla, Megan, Kate and baby Alice

The boys playing washers...fun night!

MY Birthday...



I have always loved my birthdays....I've never been one to try to sneek a peek or ask jillion and one questions to try to figure out what my gifts are going to be....just enjoyed the excitement of being surprised when I opened it......As I have gotten older, I still enjoy opening gifts but also look forward to eating out with my family......

Edward Delk's Bar......This year I decided to go downtown Tulsa instead of the usual south Tulsa or Brookside....this is just a quiet, quaint, unique, small restaurant in the historic Atlas Building.  
 
 
 
 
 



 
Leaving Delk's to go bowling at the Dust Bowl...also, downtown....Looking at this picture, reminds me of being in NYC at night....love it!

...sharing a birthday cupcake with my HUBBY...


...not too bad...Ben & I won the first game...
...Ben & my mom having a good time...
 
...the "gutterball" queens..
 
...our heroes...

...We met up w/ my cousin, Brent,  at the Dust Bowl....sharing birthday hugs...only I'm six years older...
 
The evening left me with love and joy in my heart...

 baby pics of me...



This is me wrapped in swaddling blankets....I'm assuming it's blurring b/c it is taken through a window and a glass nursery bed....back in the day...1979...they kept us babies in the nursery for the most part except during the feeding time....
...being admired by my mom...lol!..



Sunday, September 2, 2012

... OUR picturesque WEDDING..

Ben and I are so happy to have shared such a perfect day with all the people we loved! 
...everything I had ever dreamed about.....a perfectly beautiful day!

 Intimate & Special Moment...

We made a decision to move away from the more traditional custom of waiting til the ceremony to see one another....
...my long, silent walk down the chapel aisle...
...soft tap on the shoulder..
...intimate, sweet ramblings...a wonderful romantic moment...

..soon to be Mr. & Mrs...


We chose the Tulsa University Sharp Chapel for our wedding ceremony....we fell in love with the chapel sanctuary for its basilica design with wooden tudor arches and beautiful stained glass.

 ...our house party girls, my cousins, Katie and Audrey Paige...


Saturday, the Fourth of August, Two Thousand and Twelve...six o'clock in the evening....


Aslynn and Jackson

...nervously smiling...

...walk down the aisle with my stepdad...

...ceremony led by Dr. Jeff Francis...
...celebrating our long awaited announcement....Mr. & Mrs. Ben Owens.....

...this was taken immediately following the wedding in the reception hall of the chapel....
...Ben and his brothers...


...my beautiful college friend & soloist and mother of Aslynn...
Special Music:  "Lucky" by Jason Myraz and "The Lord's Prayer"

...Ben with his dad, Dr. James Owens...

...with my mom, Brenda, and sister, Lindsay..
...with Mamo, my mom's mother...
Ben's mom being escorted by his youngest brother, John, and sister, Sarah...
(we missed his older sister, Rachel, and her family...xo!)

 Trolley Time...


...our little trolley chaperone, Jackson...

...stepping out as Mr. and Mrs. Ben Owens....

Our Reception...

We chose the Tulsa Country Club because of its close proximity to the Sharp Chapel,  and we loved how all the windows would give us the nighttime view of the downtown Tulsa skyline.  We also envisioned the club's dining room with its dark stained  walls  enhancing our vineyard  theme.....It, too, was perfect.
...entering the Tulsa Country Club as Mr. and Mrs. Ben Owens...
....the happiest day of my life...!
Matron of Honor and Best Man...
..Lindsay Conway Holmboe & Sam Owens...

My sister-wives,  Daisi & Morgan...
...pulling up the bustle...
...taking a second to relax...
..sweet moment with my mom...


..entrance to the TCClub...


...Our 1st dance...'The Flame'...
"Wherever you go, I'll be with you....I will be the flame...

..dance with my stepdad, Paul...
"In My Life" by the Beatles


...skyline view of downtown Tulsa...
..Ali Williams singing a special song to Ben & I...LOL!


...enjoying the outdoor pato...


...after a short, quiet, much needed rainshower.... a nighttime pic w/ the view of the Tulsa skyline...


..a thank you speech from Paul followed by a toast from Sam & Lindsay..

...cutting of the bridal cake...
...the groom's cake...both cakes were bavarian cream...by Ludger's!


...Ben with a few of his hs friends...

Sisterhood...the ultimate experience of a lifetime..xo!

My sweet teacher friends from LS that I am missing this year...Again, much thanks to Kara (red dress) for the beautiful calligraphy addresses written on our invitations.

..the brothers dancing to "the Creep"...
...joining in at the end...



...cousins...

Paul checking phone for Creek Cty fire updates....





..our awesome DJ from DJ Connections...

...last song for an unforgetable night....."Don't Stop Believin' " by Journey....
...the end to a perfect night... 



Sweet  Dreams  with  Love & Joy...!

(to continue, click on 'read more'...more pics of the reception & wedding)