Continuing the tradition

We've done cereal for the past 3 years the night before Thanksgiving and this year was no different. Here are our choices for dinner! Katie said she loved all three and Owen shook his head agreeing wholeheartedly. :) 

South Carolina

Road Trip. By myself while Justin traveled for work...turned out great!

It was such a blessing to go to Greenville to see the Carsons.

The kids did not stop playing for two straight days. Amazing!

We loved eating yummy food (I am posting the recipe for patty melts soon, oh man those basaltic onions were DELICIOUS!), listening to giggles (from the adults too...I couldn't decide if I was 34 or 33-I am 33 :), watching races, tackles, jumping, coloring, imagination, dress up and on and on and on...

Thankful for old friends that are there even 5 hours away and now in a new state. Truly I felt as if no time had passed since we switched off every other week playmates for the girls and the Carson's lived with us for a summer. :)

Katie and Laney are still great best buds. We will keep 'pin pal' ing as Katie says.

Thanks sweet friends for a special 2.5 day holiday!

We loved it and you!

Mattie and Owen did great together! They were in the bedroom jumping from the big bed to the trundle every chance they got!

And yes, this is how Owen said good bye...he kissed Mattie!

swhoooooooosh-airplane swinging

Aww...sweet friends

then.

now

Owen LOVED this 4 wheeler. Shhhh....The Carson's gave this to Owen for Christmas. He is going to be THRILLED!

I think Kt lived in dress up clothes the whole time we were in Greenville.

Precious Mattie, she is about 6 weeks older then Owen.

Owen finally warmed up to Daisy. She is a super sweet dog!

Notice they both have on boots? Isn't that cute?!

happy? Yes!

Thanks again Carsons for letting us stay for a few days at your beautiful abode!

Way to go Daddy!

Mission Increase moved offices and now they are down in the North Hills area. We were super excited for the new space with Daddy! Even though it is farther away from our home (not as many lunch dates for us with Justin :( it is a great office and we are proud of him and all MI is doing in the community!

And little man, 'Mr. November'...you are a piece of work. :)

A guest post...Melissa Clift

ALO EBRYONE!

I am simply stopping by this spectacular blog of Gi's to give a shout out for NEEDTOBREATHE.

(aside) And at this precise moment Katie Grace tripped over my big feet and flipped forward hitting her head into my knee. We laughed. She said "Type it up, type it up." And I obeyed.

Check out NEEDTOBREATHE. They are epic and Christians. Christian Epicracy....I made that word up.

Tchau.

MC

leaves

Is anything more fun then jumping in the leaves? I think not. :)

And Owen LOVES (which is an understatement) when Justin brings home the blower and blows the yard clean. Actually if Daddy does any yard work Owen wants to help. He follows him around and works just as hard as Daddy taking care of the grass and fall leaves.

What fun the beautiful fall brings to our home!

Go Dori Go!

Uncle Dorian has started his junior year of basketball at Colorado State University and we are super excited to hear how he does. We have been listening to the games from the online radio station and the kids check with Justin the next morning to see how he did.

A few days ago Katie and Owen were chanting, "Go Dori Go" around the house and the next thing I knew they came out dressed as 'cheerleaders'. Big sisters...dressing up their little brothers in their dress up clothes-I never did that. :) After a few minutes Owen came back out from Katie's room with the shorts on instead of the skirt. Better choice buddy! Of course Katie was dancing around and Owen was jumping up and down and marching all around the kitchen.

But we do LOVE to cheer for Uncle Drew and Uncle Dorian. We love you guys! And the excitement is building at our house to see everyone for the CSU/Duke game in December! We can't wait!

Mountain holiday

Just when the leaves were turning we gathered up our fall stuff, jumped in the car and headed to Black Mountain. It was delightful! I had searched for a cabin for us to stay and in and since I started later in the fall nothing was available.

Bummed....but yet, God had something else in store for us. After emailing the 10th house-agh (I tried VRBO) an agency emailed back telling us they had a cottage open and was at a significantly reduced rate because the owners wanted it rented this weekend. (some other folks had backed out) Would we take it? I looked it up and though it was blue with white trim, we booked it! And it was a joy to be there for our stay. It had wide open wood beams and a wood burning fireplace. A cute kitchen that opened up into the family room, three bedrooms and a sleeping loft-that if the kids were older they would have LOVED! It was clean, simple, warm and inviting. It was just what we needed.

I was sad when we had to leave, but thankful, oh so thankful we got to go. Love the mountains, they provide perspective and rest to my soul. Given the option, Justin and I would both choose mountains over the beach. The beach has its draws, am thankful it is close by and as a kid I would have jumped at the beach-its activity, fun in the sun, fresh seafood, but these days the mountains sing to my heart.

Sky Top Orchards. Pink lady apples, picked straight off the trees. Juicy!

And the view one mile up a mountain?-breathtaking.

*remember for our next trip--this farm only takes cash and driving back down the mountain (though only three miles) takes about 40 minutes. Thanks Love. :)*

And for a special treat we got Apple Cider Donuts to celebrate Owen's birthday. They melted in our mouths, warm, sugary and worth the $1!

We. Love. Our. Kids.

We walked about a mile round trip to find trees that were brimming full of impeccable fruit.

Katie and Owen were troopers as was Justin since he carried about 40 lbs of apples!

Home for Corn Chowder in fresh sourdough bowls-delicious.

We had fun tooling around the town of Black Mountain. We loved all the shops!

Isn't this a great sign?? :)

Had to eat at My Father's Pizza and snag a drink at the Dripolator Coffee Shop. Sigh...

Our cozy cabin-'Sugarhaus'!

Can you see the fire in the background-it's almost out for the night? I LOVED that we had a wood burning fire everyday. And even more I love my husband.

Sweet siblings

Our precious princess running around enjoying a mountain park. I heart this photo!

I think her happy expression expresses how we all felt about our trip.

A new menu item

Apple Crisp.

I am adding it to our weekly menu. It can be a dessert or breakfast dish at the Hime home. (yes, today it was breakfast :)

Soooo super Yummo!

Peel, core and slice 6-8 apples to desired size.

Toss with a Tablespoon or two of flour and apple cider (juice or water can also be used)

Stir to make sure apples are covered.

Pour apples into a sprayed 8x8 pan

Mix into a large bowl:

1/2 cup flour (I use spelt)

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup granulated sugar (I use granulated honey)

1/2 cup butter

A few generous sprinkles of cinnamon and salt.

Using a pastry cutter or strong fork blend all ingredients until mixture resembles coarse sand-your arm might get sore, but keep going until there aren't any crumbs. Use your muscles ladies!

Cover apples with the oatmeal topping -pushing down to make it all fit if necessary. It is important to try to cover all the apples with the topping so they can soften into a delectable treat.

Bake at 350 for appox. 35 minutes.

*I normally use pink ladies or golden delicious-I like the tangy sweet apples. But others can be used as well! Rule of thumb...if you like the apple raw, you will love it cooked!

Poodle girl and a Grrrrrrrrr.

Here are our two cuties all dressed up.

Yes, it rained and was yucky. And we didn't get a lot of kids at our door. But nonetheless they had fun knocking on the doors of about 5 of our neighbors!

Poodle Girl

Thanks Nana and Papa for our cute sweet treat of new PJ's!

Yay...I uploaded some photos...it worked!