Little dresses

My grandma sent me a Butterick sewing pattern for a little girls dress; the same pattern that she used when her daughter, my aunt, was a little girl! And, as if that isn't special enough she sent me a dress for my daughter that she had cut out all those years ago, and only just sewed together this past week. I can't wait for her to try it on.

Here is my aunt wearing the butterick dress at 18 mo old

Here is my Uncle, my dad, and my aunt when they were 5 1/2, 3 1/2, and 18 months old.

Weekend Getaway

Rock Springs WY is pretty much the half way point between us and my dad; instead of one of us having to make such a long trip we all met there this weekend. We left Friday night following my husbands shift at work. This worked out really well because our babe slept the whole way there! Even I nodded off from time to time; unable to monitor the speedometer or offer up other annoying coachings as a passenger seat driver with my eyes closed, we arrived at the hotel in really good time. We spent a lazy Saturday swimming, playing games, catching up, and adoring our little girl. It was SO GOOD to see my dad, and also pretty darn good to get away from normalcy too.We can't believe how lucky we were to have blue skies being as it was the end of October.

Just veggin'

Love this cute swim suit!

Uh oh- double trouble!

Someone found a friend!

Such a sweet face!

She's just checking to make sure grandpa keeps his eyes open in this picture!

Showing off her mad walking skills

Ah hah! So grandpa taught her to do this

Or... maybe she got it from her daddy

Her shirt says: Grandpa Rocks He sure does!

Beautiful landscapes over the Teton Pass

She is oh so silly

Family outings

I cherish these slow, autumn days! The sky is vivid blue against the red and gold leaves. The world is so beautiful around us. It's nice to bask in the peacefulness and just appreciate how much we have in one another. And yes, today did include another trip to the beautiful apple orchards.

  

These next pictures are cute, so I wanted to add them. They're off my cell phone though, so the quality isn't very good. 

Home made granola

I remember the fist time I discovered that cake could be made from scratch. I was working in Westminster, CO at a rehabilitation center and one of our nurses was enjoying her birthday. Our head nurse brought in this amazing, layered, chocolate cake for the occasion that was unlike anything I had ever produced out of a Betty Crocker box. Her secret? She made this cake from scratch! It had never before occurred to me that this could be done! I had seen this woman administer life saving medications, issue orders to her staff, insert IVs and reason with the most afraid of patients. But, it was her cake baking skills that won my respect. The other day I had a similar ah- ha! moment while browsing the Simply Sugar and Gluten Free blog and came across a recipe for cinnamon vanilla granola. Granola?! You can make granola? Yes, apparently you can. It is easy and calls for apple sauce so I didn't have to abandon my apple devotion. Delicious. Even my husband likes it, (which is more than I can say for store bought versions.)

Yes- I did eat my breakfast, apple sauce and yogurt topped with the granola, out of that fancy glass. Somethings we never out grow. When I was a child and we would go to visit my great grandmother, she would order from Kentucky Fried Chicken and let me serve it up on her fancy china. We would drink Pepsi and orange soda out of tea cups, with our pinky fingers pointed straight up in the air.

BBQ chicken n apple slaw

If you haven't happened upon the beautiful world of pinterest yet, I highly recommend that you go check it out. It was there that I got my idea to make a BBQ pulled chicken sandwich with apple slaw, (yes, I'm still on my apple kick. Actually picking more apples today; so excited!) My husband even brought home some gluten free dinner rolls, so I got to eat the whole sandwich and not just its guts. Ah- the little things... :)

I set some frozen chicken breasts in the croc pot with a cup of apple juice and a jar of BBQ sauce. Cooked them on high until I could pull apart the meat with two forks. In a separate bowl, I tossed some shredded cabbage and sliced apples with my grandmas (Hi- Gumgum) salad dressing and let it chill in the refrigerator. And to serve, I toasted the rolls with a slice of provolone cheese in the oven before I topped it with the chicken and the cold slaw.

Salad Dressing:
1/2 c mayo
1/4 c sugar
1/8 c vinegar (we like to use apple cider vinegar)

Kenya Run a 5k?!

Pinnacle Security put on a 5k run to secure hope. Proceeds were donated to help build a hospital in Kenya thus the clever signs around town reading: Kenya Run a 5k? Well, I thought, sure I can! And, since I have been to Kenya before and can totally vouch for their need of hospitals, I signed up. The course was awesome: way on the edge of town so we ran with houses on our right, and farm land on our left up, up, up towards the temple and then down to that finish line. I wasn't prepared for those hills so I missed my goal time by 21 seconds, but I am still proud of myself because I didn't walk any of it, and I had a good kick there at the end. Races are so much more fun than the training! The music and the atmosphere along with a goodie bag complete with a towel, t-shirt, coupons and yes, even a man's neck tie make it fun, but the best part of all was that my husband had the day off of work! This was the first Saturday he hasn't had to work, without even requesting it off, in ages! He and our little girl were there to cheer me on, and then we spent the day lounging around the house just enjoying the fact that we weren't obligated to be anywhere at all.

Pumpkin Applesauce Muffins with Apple Frosting

I found a pumpkin- applesauce bundt cake  recipe and made muffins out of it since I couldn't find my bundt cake pan. It calls for gluten free flour, and that is what I used, but I don't see why any ol' all purpose flour wouldn't work. I baked the muffins at 350 degrees for 21 minutes, and I replaced half the cinnamon with pumpkin pie spice. Delicious! But, I really wanted to highlight the apple so I whipped up some apple frosting:

1/4 cup butter (at room temperature)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Enough powdered sugar to reach desired thickness
1 finely chopped apple
Garnish with cinnamon

Apple Sauce/ Apple Pie

Making apple sauce is so easy! Of course, it is best cooked with cinnamon and sugar... but for a healthier treat I threw cored, chopped apples (skin on) in the croc pot set to the low setting, with just enough water to cover the bottom of the pot. I stirred it occasionally, and after four hours we were enjoying a tart treat. I also made a couple of batches without the skin, and tossed them in the blender for a few seconds. Turned some into baby food cubes by freezing it in the ice cube trays, and plan to use the rest for recipes I have found that call for apple sauce. While the croc pot was doing its job, I chopped some fresh apples and mixed them with the ingredients to my great- great grandmothers apple pie recipe; (substituting my gluten free flour blend for the all purpose flour) I also added a bit of lemon juice to preserve the freshness. I filled some zip lock bags and put them in the freezer for a later use. I was tempted to make a pie right then, but Hubby's been asking for a pumpkin pie for a few days now... Silly him, doesn't re realize I'm on an apple kick?

Apple Maddness

Never before have I been so in love (obsessed?) with apples! The apple orchard at BYU-I is brimming with apples ready to be picked and I hope to return today for my third round! And hey, at 50 cents a pound can you blame me? There are so many things one can make with this fruit and I cannot wait to try a few new recipes. I'll be sure to share any successes here. In the mean time, enjoy some pictures of our little girl sharing in our apple adventures! I'll tell ya what- she is just the apple of my eye! (Clever, eh?)

Setting her in the basket frees both hands

Such a good little helper!

Better and Better!

This month just keeps getting better and better! We had some out of state family drop in for a quick visit. So very wonderful to see them, and the kiddo adored the extra attention.   

We're also celebrating our second wedding anniversary today. So thankful to be married to such a genuine, patient, fun, hard working man! Gosh, two years sure goes fast! I'm excited to share many more together. 

The BEAUTIFUL flowers he sent me today.

There's that sense of humor!

1st haircut!

October is off to an exciting start! Our babe had her very first unofficial haircut the other morning! Her hair had been driving me crazy! Way too long on the top, and always out of control. See what I mean?

I love how she is pointing, almost as if to say: This had better not end up on your blog, Mom!

So, I took the scissors to her while she was nursing. It isn't perfect, but I'm no beautician. At least now it isn't in her eyes, or sticking up like she's been electrocuted, and the rest of her hair can maybe get caught up  too. I love her little blonde waves. I think she is looking more and more like me every day.

We finally pulled out the high chair too. Luckily it came with a finger painting tray! Too bad I didn't snap a picture of her strawberries and bananas masterpiece.

October is also exciting because not even a full week in, we are already getting snow. Big, plump snow flakes are piling up on the grass, the trees, and apparently our roof since television stopped responding- gotta love dish. Took our daughter outside just real quick before it really started coming down, just to show her what snow looks like- and feels like! Ok, so I stayed inside where it was warm... but I did snap a picture!

In order to keep her entertained, we rotate playing in different rooms between naps. Here she is in her cute little nursery.