Thanksgiving wish.....

I found this while wandering other blogs and thought it was something I would totally say. So here it is...my Thanksgiving wish to all of you...

May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey be plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have never a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!

I hope all you have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and may the Lord bless you and keep you on this day.

Sarah

Sweet Pumpkin Dip

This just might end up being a have to make for Thanksgiving day. Its the yummiest holiday dip you will ever try!
All you will need:
4 cups powdered sugar
2 (8oz each) packages cream cheese, softened
2 cans (15 oz each) organic pumpkin pie filling
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger

1. Mix powdered sugar, cream cheese, pumpkin pie filling, cinnamon and ginger in bowl with mixer until smooth.
2. Refrigerate until serving time.
3. Serve with ginger snaps, vanilla wafers or graham crackers

My opinion is its best with the thin ginger snaps from Costco, and I actually half the recipe because the whole recipe makes 4 cups of the dip!

Sarah

Child Labor.......

I have to say that its really fun to have Nana and Papa owning an Ice Cream store. The kids get spoiled by being able to pick out whatever Ice-cream they want whenever we go there. (Mom and Dad don't mind one bit, being that we love Cappuccino Blast! with caramel) Although sometimes Nana and Papa make them earn it by putting them to work. I'm not sure how I would feel if I walked into the store and was asked "How can I help you?" by someone who couldn't see over the counter. I would be looking around wondering where in the world that voice came from, only to find a little munchkin on the other side wondering if they could climb in a dipping cabinet and scoop out some ice-cream for me. So needless to say, they put them to work doing the hard jobs.....like taste testing, and attracting more customers by doing little dances while in uniform.

I just couldn't help taking pics of some of the yummy toppings...pardon me while I play with my camera........

These would be the ONLY spoons that you can eat Baskin Robbins Ice-cream with.....trust me, it just makes the already delicious ice-cream taste even better!

Sarah

Verse of the day...

I'm not sure how many of you scroll to bottom of my blog, but I have the verse of the day down there. This one seemed to be so applicable to me today, and I know it would be good for lots of my blog readers as well. So I had to post it:

"I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well feed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength."
Philippians 4:12-13

With the way the economy is effecting a lot of us, I felt that this verse is encouraging and left me remember that God is in control, and we need not to worry.

Sarah

A day at the park

So with my new camera in tow we took a walk to the park down the street. I had to get out and use it! Besides the kids ask me on a daily basis to do to the park. So here's a few pics from the park.

Who wouldn't want to give these pucker lips a kiss!? He's such a goofy little Ham, but gives the best kisses ever!

Sarah

Guess WHAT!!!

I am now the PROUD owner of a new Canon PowerShot SD790 IS. Yeah!!! WOOHOOO!! and the crowd goes wild!!!! I have felt (for a lack of a better word) NAKED without a camera for the last, oh let me think, 8 or 9 months. Its been awful! I'm so totally stoked to have a new one...Can you tell?? What does that mean for you?? It means lots more pictures of my crazy, ridiculous, fun-loving, family...speaking of, here's two of them right now. Look forward to more "frequent" updates. HA HA!!

Sarah

Cider Pressing!!

Some friends of ours in Hood River have 30 acres of Apple Orchards, and Pears, and every year they press cider just for the fun of it They have a few party's one with her kids from school, and one with a bunch of friends that they invite. It was so much fun! My parents met us out there, and all of us had a ton of fun working and seeing old friends. I must of quartered 300 apples, and there were at least 15 of us cutting apples. When it was all said and done we all must have made over 50 gallons of cider. Chloe and papa washing the apples in the big binEvan just kept dropping them in one at a time. He liked watching them splash, maybe that's why he was soakin' wet no much longer after this picture.After they got washed they got dumped on to a big wooden table where there we lots of us waiting to quarter them all.Cutting all them apples with mom and othersThis was the grinder that pretty much turn the apples into apple mush that then got poured into the cider press. *Notice the stacks of half gallon empty bottles waiting to be filled with apple yummy-ness*Evan wishing he was tall enough to spin the handle around that slowly but surely lowered and "squished" oh wait "PRESSED" the apples into juice that spilled out the bottom went through a strainer and into a bucket.The last pic is of Jordan (one of our old youth kids) His parents are the ones with the orchard. He was a "pro!"
The best tasting cider ever is the one you press yourself. YUM YUM!!

Fall is upon us

I just had to share the beautiful pictures of the weather outside. The leaves are gorgeous, and ALL over the place. The kids enjoyed playing in them, but didn't so much like getting there pictures taken with them...KIDS! I might mention that it was "sprinkling" and Chloe kept saying that it was pouring rain in her eyes, while I stood over them under a tree. Not sure that it was as bad as she was making it out to be, being that my usual cry baby is laying perfectly still, and smiling in all the pics!Aren't the leaves pretty!!? The last pic is of my parents house, and how big of a mess they have to clean up. And that's just the front yard!

Pumpkins, puppys and lions...

So fall is upon us, and well, has been. The weather outside has been beautiful. I love to watch all the colors change, and the leaves fall. It means SNOW is coming YEAH!!!! I am amongest the few I know that absolutely love the snow, and cold, I could probably live in Alaska....not that I want to, but I could! So going back to fall....Uncle Jason and Auntie Coco took the kids to B-Z Farms to pick out a pumpkin to carve. They sure had fun, and actually helped de-gut them!Auntie Coco drew the faces on them and then Uncle Jason carved them out.Chloe wanted a "scary" face and Evan wanted a "happy" face.....silly kids! Then a couple weeks later they got dressed up, and went out trick or treating. Evan was a lion and Chloe was puppy. The easiest costumes ever, but totally cute! This was getting ready.......All painted up, and ready to go!Courage the cowerdly lion...ain't he a cutie?!?!
TRICK OR TREAT!!

P.S. I must say the cutest part about watching them go trick or treating was Evan singing Jesus Loves Me as he ran from house to house. Too cute! Plus every time they left a house they got even more excited realizing that they got more and more candy.