Fall

 A rare picture of four generations

Shilo 8, Torrie 31, Margaret 93, Jan 57

 I took some of the daycare kids into the studio for some cute Halloween shots.

It is sooo hard to get 2 one years olds, 2 two year olds and 1 four year old to all smile and look at the camera at the same time!

French Maid and Rich guy for the Lee's Halloween Party! Always such a kick!

 I would just like to add that I MADE that skirt!! { I DO NOT SEW}

And we won for Hottest costumes! Whoot whoot!

 True thought he could move this cart of pumpkins at the Pumpkin farm. It was so fun to watch the kids run around and search for the 'perfect' pumpkin. 

 John used to say "if you can pick it up, you can have it"

i just tell John to pick up whichever pumpkin the kids pick :)

 It was a fun outing and I think we will definitely do it again next year.

 What are we going to do with all those pumpkins you ask?

We carved them and made a pathway to our front door.

14 in all

 Someone had a silly laugh attack like her mother on the way home.

And it lasted the WHOLE way home from Mt. Vernon. We were all laughing so hard just because she was cracking up!

 Time to start the carving!

4 hours later we had them all carved and ready to be lit for Halloween night!

After all that work &  having full sized candy bars to hand out plus tons of fun decorations -we only got 

NINE trick or treaters!

 Cat and a spider by John {he's so creative}

Shilo is 8!

It is Birthday season around here, starting with Shilo!

 Grandma got Shilo the chocolate overload cake at costco that we all love!

We went to lunch at a little hole in the wall in Sequim, it was really tasty.

 We took a freezing cold, windy ferry ride to Kingston. {regular fall weather around here}

 Fed all the animals bread till they were sick and we were all slobbery.  We got surrounded by buffalo, I was a little nervous as they started to smack the car with their giant heads, but the kids and John thought it was a hoot!

And I ran my car through the car wash and the buffalo snot still won't come off!!:)

Anyhow we were all cracking up and I think Shilo, True and my favorite part was feeding the horses that they have now. They were so sweet and put their whole head right in the car, so you got a really up close and personal view {and smell} of horses!

 True was pretty brave AND he got to feed a zebra! How often do you get to say that?

We had a blast and were so lucky to get to spend a beautiful day together.

Shilo's laugh is contagious and she has a wonderful strong personality. I am so glad that we get to spend our lives with her in it.

And then there was Shilo's baptism.

Chastin and Jordan both gave talks about how they felt when they were baptized. It was a beautiful moment.

Rob Lee baptized her and Dave Geddes confirmed her.We have had quite the birthday week around here, filled with fun! And I haven't even posted about her birthday party!

Fun all summer long

We hit low tide at Edmonds beach

 One of our favorite places to be

 Dug for sea creatures and the kids caught fish with their bare hands!

 Used our groupon for Cold stone creamery

 Visited the troll

 Went to the zoo {a couple of times} True is making some kind of funny face here...

 Played in the neighbors pool for hours on end

 Emp for a few min. till we realized it wasn't free in the summer..opps.

 Seattle fountain and a laser show

 bowling at spin alley

 sounders game with our neighbors, second year running

 met casey keller

 and freddy montaro

 got ready for Trek!

 painted bird houses for our back yard

 enjoyed menchies with some of my bffs

 berry picked in our own back yard

was black bucks #1 groupie

I would say so far we have had lots of fun! And we still have a few more weeks of summer to go!

Morris Management Picnic

We went to John's office picnic this year. It was so much fun! I honestly don't know why we haven't gone before. There was tons of great food, wonderful people, and a vicious game of volleyball!

The boss, provided hula hoops for all the kids, a squirt gun fight, a raffle and croquet.  

 Shilo is the hula master and won  a beach set, coloered bubbles and stickers in the raffle.

 These two are best friends!

 John trying not to be competitive. Haha.

 True found out there was an endless box of dumdums and couldn't help but have a few!

{he too, won colored bubbles!}

 Jordan was the smallest "grownup" playing volleyball. She won an itunes gift card and new ear buds.

 Such a poser...

 I love Chastins face! He's not competitive at all...cough cough! 

{nothing like his father}

Chastin won a foam plane that True promptly broke.. Poor older brother.

John and I won a cheesecake factory gift card and a croquet set. Bruce is always so thoughtful and generous.

It was a fun filled day, and we were blessed with beautiful weather. And that John works for a company that cares so much for it's employees. Lucky us!

Dinner Date

We won El Goucho gift cards at John's office party for the last few years running. I had to save them up so we could actually EAT there, otherwise we could have ordered water and salad.

It was amazing! The building is somewhat unassuming, and I never would have noticed it had John not been there before. {for business, none the less. {my business never takes me out to fancy food... :) }

When I had to use the restroom, a waiter came over and walked me there! The food was divine, and although I may never eat there again, I think everyone should have the experience at least once. First they bring out home cooked bread with whipped butter, then your dinner, which you have to order a la cart, but anyhow, my steak was giant and tender. I got the mac n cheese as one of my sides, split a wedge with john, had asparagus and John got a baked potato. Now normally I would make fun of him for choosing something so plain at such a fancy place, but this time, it came prepared table side with fresh chives, a cheese sauce {not just shredded cheese} and more whipped butter! I stole that right from him! By the time all the food was there I had it placed in a semi circle around my steak plate...sorry John. I was also pretty sure that I was going to need a change of clothes for the ride home because there was no way I was leaving in the fitted clothes I came in. {some of which I borrowed from Jordan}The waiter brought a dessert menu, not quite sure where I was supposed to fit that, so I passed. Sadly. Because dessert at an upscale restaurant is never disappointing.

So at the end of this divine meal the waiter delivers a cake platter stuffed with nuts and a nut cracker, purple grapes, 2 whole apples of varying kinds, 2 whole oranges of different varieties, and a beautiful bright green pear right smack in the middle! Along side the fruit platter comes a silver platter with some strong type of bleu cheese, homemade slices of toasted bread, and dates!! My oh my! At the end of the night we rolled out the doors to our valet and requested they drive us home...

The night was wonderful!

Menchies & my BFF

Me and Bridget at my new favorite place.

Menchies frozen yogurt bar.

14 marvelous flavors every day!

Been there 3 times this week!!

This could become a problem...

btw~{we look like sisters}

Pioneer Woman

Cinnamon Rolls are high on Johns list of favorite foods, so this was the first recipe of Pioneer Woman's that I ever made. I received a pan of these from my friend Wendy for Christmas, and I graciously allowed each one of my kids a bite before I all but devoured the warm gooey pan of heaven myself. And I called Wendy right up, told her I simply could not live my life without this recipe and she turned me on to the Pioneer woman.  From there I was sucked into the talent of this woman { she also made me want to fall in love with a cowboy, but that's a whole other post!}

So as of late, I have been making a ton of new dishes! Recently John bought me the Pioneer woman cook book and I was so inspired that I decided to try to cook my way through it. I know, it's been done before, but not by me. And if I have something new to look forward to eating at the end of a long work day, and that's what pushes me to cook for my large brood, so be it.

French Breakfast Puffs were a HUGE hit in this house.

I made them for the daycare kids one Friday morning and when the rest of the family came home they tried them and requested that I make more for them for the weekend. Success! 

 Then I made her Buttermilk Biscuits  to go  with our dinner one night and I couldn't believe how buttery and delicious they were! I was in cooking heaven! If she could make something so simple as a biscuit so fantastic what else could she dream up for me to eat?

Next I tackled her Meatloaf recipe.

O.K, well, it didn't go as well as I had imagined. I thought that my meatloaf was going to come out of the oven with crispy bacon and a tender meatloaf underneath a tangy sauce. Unfortunately that's not how it turned out. My kids liked it, the bacon was kind of on the limp side for John and I so I resorted to putting it under the broiler, but that just chard my sauce and turned the meatloaf black.. I was bummed. But that kind of thing happens sometimes when you try new things, you never know if your taste buds and the authors are going to be the same. So needless to say, this amateur chef would be fine putting this recipe on the self and not trying again, but my kids liked it and therefor I will be making this again.