Thanksgiving

How was your Thanksgiving??

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving break! We went to North Carolina on Wednesday and spent time with family which was great!

          We ate tons of food...

Pilgrim Cookies

different cheeses!

Yeast rolls

Turkey, sweet potato casserole, mash potatoes, fruits, veggies and lots of  dessert! 

          Played Games...

Axis and Allies

          Watched Football...

          And spent some quality time with family...

The boys played golf while the girls (and Bug) shopped and watched "girly" movies!

         Bug off course had a blast with his grandparents aunts and uncles! 

It was a fun Thanksgiving! We are so thankful for our family! God has truly been good to us!

Thankful

We have adopted a tradition that Mom R. started about 15 years ago in an effort to emphasize Thanksgiving for the family! The Thankful Tree is now something i have grown to look forward to during fall, and this year our sweet little Bug was part of the whole tradition. We went to look for a tree around the area last week, and found the perfect one! Then we set it up, cut out leaves and started listing all we are thankful for!

Salvation

Love

Family

Friends

Our Small Group

Jobs

Laughter

Date nights

Home

Our Son's "Firsts"

Time Together

What are you thankful for?

Dear Paula Deen...

Wednesday night i decided to make an apple cake. I google-searched apple cake recipes and came across "Uncle Bob's Fresh Apple Cake" recipe. Paula Deen deemed it "Easy" so i gave it a try. I quickly realized Paula's "easy" is my "hard". Granted, not having 3 very important ingredients might have been the reason this "easy" recipe was more difficult than it needed to be. 

Though i had to substitute the apples (we didn't have Granny Smith apples), and for some reason the pantry decided to run out of vegetable oil and sugar (substituted Olive oil and brown sugar), it turned out pretty tasty. Definitely will be making it again - with the ingredients the recipe calls for. It is a perfect fall treat and it sure made our kitchen and apartment smell DELICIOUS! 

Ingredients

Honey Glaze:

• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons milk

Apple Cake:

• 3 cups diced Granny Smith apples, about 2 apples
• 1 cup lightly toasted chopped walnuts
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
• 3 eggs

Directions

Glaze: Add all the ingredients to a small bowl and stir until smooth. Set the bowl aside.

Cake: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease a Bundt pan or tube pan.

In a bowl, mix together the apples, walnuts, vanilla, and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt.

Using an electric mixer beat the sugar, oil, and eggs in a large bowl. Add in the dry ingredients and beat until completely combined. Fold in the apple mixture.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until a tester inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Allow the cake to fully cool in the pan, about 1 hour, and then turn it out onto a plate.

Drizzle the apple cake with some of the honey glaze, serve and enjoy!

Cook's Note:

The cake can be wrapped tightly and stored in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days.

ENJOY! HAPPY FALL!

Celebrating Fall

I love the fact that churches have Fall Festivals! They are such a great alternative for parents and kids. It gives kids the opportunity to play and get candy and it's worry-free for the parents! This year we were lucky enough to be able to go to two. Although Bug was a bit too little to fully enjoy all that the festivals had to offer, he got dressed up in his lion costume and enjoyed some fun fall activities.

On Saturday, October 29th, we went with my mom and brother to their church and enjoyed a festival inside (since it was under 30 degrees and snowing outside). Bug played some games and watched a really fun puppet show.

With Uncle Javi! 

Luke Skywalker/pirate! Best costume there for sure!

 On Monday, October 31st, we opted to not go trick-or-treating. It was cold and by the time it was dark enough it would have been way to late for Bug. We went to our church for the Fall Festival. They had food, games, face painting, music and horses! We enjoyed time with friends and Bug's friends too! He rode a horse for the first time and LOVED it. He giggled the whole time! Then he played with the youth pastor's new dog (Bug loves dogs!) and we came home right on time for bed time! It was a wonderful day!

Bug and Chewbacca! 

Getting sleepy

Great first official Halloween for our little one! Maybe next year we'll try trick-or-treating with him!

The Birthday Party

**Sorry this is so late!**

Bug's birthday party was a success! We had to change locations because the pumpkin farm we were originally planning to go to was under water and we had to make last minute plans and tell everyone. Thankfully everything turned out even better than we planned! Though it was a little bit chilly, Cows-n-Corn had everything we needed and more. They had a tent with tables ready for us, the staff was WONDERFUL and so helpful, and there were animals to pet, hay stacks, hay rides, playgrounds, and the maze (as muddy as it was). Everyone seemed to have had a great time!

Bug trying to grab the goat after he kicked it.

Laughing with his Grandpa "Pa-Pa"

The boys enjoying the hay stacks

The band

Bug loved playing with the cow and the goats! He learned to go down the slide by himself and really enjoyed that! The cake was delicious (thanks to my cousin!) and Bug received some amazing gifts!

The delicious cake!

 We can truly say that we have been incredibly blessed with wonderful friends and family.

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET BOY!