Apple Cider TIme!

 James' Grandpa lives way out in north Pasco area.  This is where all the different varieties of farms reside.  Luckily for us, grandpa lives next to a cherry and Golden Delicious apple orchard.  After the Apples are harvested, we go in and glean them to make apple cider. This is an all day event.  I think this year we did well over 40 jugs of cider. I volunteered to be in the kitchen with the help of Ian's mom to make the food for all the hard workers.  Lunch was butternut squash soup with coconut-ginger, and summer sausage potato soup with kale. Rissa made 6 loaves of delicious home made bread. There were no left overs, and we both got rave reviews. I then put together 3 large apple crisps with whip cream, and hot apple cider to top it off.  It was a fabulous day.  One I look forward to every year.

 I love it when they get the kids involved!

And here's our HAPPY BUNCH!

Halloween 2012

 So this year I got the kids dressed a little scary. Went to the good will and found some cute Halloween costumes.  I got brave too, and decided I could paint their faces.  The good part is, they all loved it.  This photo was taken just before we left to a cub scout meeting. Tim won the silver gourd award for his costume. He was pretty thrilled.

 Tim an I worked on this pumpkin.  I like the serious road rash this scary pumpkin has. Tim is adding his special touch.

 I decided to make a drag queen pumpkin. I'm kicking myself for not getting a picture of it all lite up. Those eye lashes and lips were awesome!

 I think Ian's sail boat pumpkin is really cool. And James did a great job on his giant Aztec pumpkin carving.

What is not shown here is the caramel apples and home made caramel popcorn.  They were so good, I guess I didn't get a chance to take pictures in between stuffing my face.

On Halloween we got to share this event with the neighbors who through a large get together at their home.  We had a fabulous potluck. Afterwards husbands took the kids trick-r-treating while the wives stayed and partied it up. When the kids returned, they set up all their candy and swapped amongst each other.  They say that's their favorite part. ...it was all my favorite