happy halloween and a little family fun recap...

We had our annual Family Fun day on Saturday and it was so great to be with our family and friends, eat some really tasty food, carve pumpkins, and take a little bit of time to reflect on thankfulness! Our friends Brookie and Jon opened their home and they are incredible hosts. I have so much to learn from them about being present with your guests during a party and being relaxed and flexible. (We brought lots of kiddos to their home and needless to say, Brookie and Jon were prepared for all of our chaos!)

We did an art project with leaves were we water colored and wrote things we were thankful for. Anytime you get to do something like that were you get to be artistic is so fun. (Other than crayons, I haven't done an art project in a very long time!)

We also carved Ryder's first pumpkin. The thing he was the most excited about was holding the sharp carving tool. He was so vexed when we wouldn't let him run around with it. But he was somewhat placated when Kit helped him carve. We used his hands and made a pumpkin for his baby sister. The bow was pink with "It's a girl" written on it. I still can't believe we are getting a girl. Anyway, the pumpkin carving was a success. (And by success I mean we had fun carving and Ryder didn't injure himself with anything sharp...)






It was a wonderful day and we left feeling so thankful for our community of family and friends. We love you all!


We hope that you have a very Happy Halloween and get the chance to make some fun memories with your family and friends!

I got moves....

Being with our friends!

We had such a great time hanging out with our friends yesterday. In the morning, we met our friends Jen and her daughter Izzy at Disneyland. We have never met a friend there before and we had such a great time talking and the kids are on the same little schedule with diapers and eating and naps, so we just had the best time!

Ryder getting ready with his Mickey ears that his grandparents got him...(Thank you Eric and Diane!)

This was Ryder's first time on the carousel and he LOVED it. He cried when I had to take him off the horse. He hasn't done that before and I felt so bad for him. It's hard being little and not understanding things...

Then in the evening, we got together with our friends the Pavones. Angelina and I were pregnant at the same time with our little guys. They were born 5 weeks apart and have been friends since the beginning. (It doesn't hurt that their parents can't get enough of each other...)

We all ate dinner together and then the mamas headed out to coffee and the 4 guys stayed home and just chilled.

There may have even been a dance party...

And there may be a little video clip...

Kit is helping with some video editing and uploading.

Stay tuned!

just a little monkeying around...

Ryder is going to be a monkey for Halloween. I have tried a few costumes that involve him having a full body get up on and he is just not that into it. (Truthfully, he has the same internal thermostat that BOTH his parents have, he just runs hot...) So we have decided to follow our theme from last year and keep it simple with a beanie. He really doesn't even realize he has it on and can wear the thing for HOURS. (Plus, around here, Halloween night can throw us some very warm weather so this keeps it easy to work with.)

So we decided to have a little photo shoot. I just love this little guy. His face kills me!

We can't wait to take him trick or treating. It will be the first time and I am sure that he will be so excited to get some treats (especially since he doesn't really know any tricks....)

a baking and photo assignment...

Kit and I did a baking/photo assignment for a family publication that Kit is part of and it was pretty fun. We did it after we put Ryder down and needless to say I was not really in the mood to bake anything, but we had a really good time and it was a really simple recipe. (Note: I have a very German Grandmother and grew up up eating her German chocolate cake. This is not meant to be a substitute, just a fun twist...)

Grandma's German Chocolate Cake

1/3 cup flake coconut

1/3 cup chopped pecans

1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/3 cup butter

1 9-inch pie shell

1 package (6 serving size) Vanilla flavor pudding and pie filling

4 oz. Sweet Baking Chocolate, broken in pieces

2 1/2 cups milk

1 package frozen, whipped topping

Heat coconut, pecans, brown sugar and butter until brown sugar is completely dissolved, stirring constantly. Spread in pie shell. Bake at 450 for 5 minutes, until bubbly; cool.

In a saucepan, combine remaining ingredients, except whipped topping. Bring to a full boil, stirring constantly, until thickened. Cool for five minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour into pie shell. Cover and chill for at least four hours or until cooled through. Garnish with whipped topping before serving. (We also sprinkled pecans on top for an little extra garnish...)

A very fun Saturday recap...

We had an amazing weekend filled with so much fun with our good friends! On Saturday we got to celebrate our close friend's little girl, Hazel Rose. She is three and we can't believe it! I know that we will blink and our kids will be all grown up... my goodness it goes so fast!

They had her birthday party at a park in Dana Point. The day was cool and the kids were able to run around and just play. It was such a fun spot to celebrate our Haze!

There was a "fishing hole" where the kids got to use their fishing poles to get things like suckers. Ryder has never had a sucker before and once he opened his, he was really excited about the whole concept of "fishing". (Too bad all fishing doesn't result in suckers...) Trick or treating will be a very fun adventure this year for sure!

Ryder enjoying his sucker with his best friend Hank. (It was Hank's first sucker too and they were both very excited to be able to sit and enjoy their treats.)

Thrashes~

We just love you four so much. Who would have thought that 13 years ago when Mark and Kit were placed as freshmen roommates at Biola, that it would lead to such an incredible life long friendship!

Hazel Rose~

Happy 3rd birthday baby girl! We were so excited when you were born and getting to meet you. you are beautiful inside and out and we look forward to watching you grow. You are so loved little lady!

On saturday night, Kit and I headed to our neighbor's annual halloween party and we had so much fun. It was a great time for dressing up and seeing some CRAZY costumes and getting to mingle with our fellow neighbors and their families and eat some really good food... We love our neighborhood!

For our costume, we went as a baker and a "bun in the oven". Kit helped me and you can't really tell, but he put a light in it and everything! I felt slightly exposed with a bare belly that was illuminated, but the costume got really fun feed back. (Plus, my belly was behind plexi glass so no unwanted touching of the tummy could occur...)

We hope you had a wonderful weekend and have a very happy Monday!

this is for cinnamon/sugar lovers

We made this recipe from Pinterest for sugar sticks. It was SO GOOD! I tried to take a picture of my finished product, it wasn't this pretty but it was the gooiness of the center of a cinnamon roll. I will be making this again.

All I could think about was all those in my life who have a sweet tooth (um, my sister...) and I know that they will love this!

a visit to our favorite pumpkin patch

We recently were able to go to our favorite pumpkin patch with Ryder. This place has a very special memory for us because I took Kit home to meet my family and we went to the pumpkin patch and carved pumpkins. Who would have thought that several years later we would be bringing our little man there, and have a baby girl on the way... Such fun memories!

So it's a pick your own and this was Ryder's first time.

Here is the one we picked:

He of course wanted to carry it. That lasted a few steps...

It was really warm, but that didn't stop me from trying to get an occasional picture with his pumpkin beanie.

Some family shots. Man am I looking really pregnant! Baby girl is growing like crazy! (I can't put it all on her... though I do blame her for all my salty cravings...)

It was a wonderful memory and we loom forward to bringing Ryder and his baby sister back next year. I think I will have to make another beanie for her to wear too!

Pumpkin Cookies and Lattes

These cookies have been a Fall holiday favorite in our family for years and this is the first time that I have made myself in charge of making them. I wanted to share them with you. I hope you enjoy them as much as our family does!

Preheat the oven 375 degrees.

Cookies:

Cream 1 cup of shortening , 1 cup sugar, 1 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree (libby's), and 1 egg.

In separate bowl, combine 2 cups of flour, 1 tsp. baking soda, 1 tsp. cinnamon, and 1/2 tsp. salt.

Add the dry ingredients to the cream mixture.

Stir in 1 cup each of butterscotch bits, walnuts, and raisins.

Spoon cookie dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for

10-12 minutes.

Frosting:

Combine 3Tbs. butter, 4 tsp. milk and 1/2 cup of brown sugar in a saucepan and cook until sugar is dissolved. Let mixture cool then stir in 1 cup of confectioners sugar and 3/4 tsp. of vanilla.

Frost while the cookies are still hot.

On Another Pumpkin note:

I don't usually go to Starbucks and get fancy drinks, but when they come out with their holiday blends, I get so excited!

I stopped by and picked up an iced decaf pumpkin spice latte with whipped cream. (It was in the 90's so iced seemed appropriate...

It was delightful!

Turkey Chili

We had a cool evening the other night so I busted out this turkey chili recipe. The only changes that I added were a 15 ounce can of black beans and we topped it with cilantro, because Kit is not a huge raw green onion fan. It was very tasty and it definitely made me feel like fall was here.

I chose a turkey recipe since I always buy the 4 pack at Costco, so we always have it on hand. I think it would work great with beef too...

Weekend getaway (a.k.a. our baby moon...)

This last weekend held some very special milestones for Kit and I. This was the first time that we went on an over night since Ryder has been born, and it also marked the date that we started dating, so we celebrating being together for 13 years... It was a wonderful time of connecting and just being together!

Arriving at the Esmerelda in Palm Springs:

Hanging out by the pool

(Such great conversations!)

Can you tell which one is mine?

(Can you tell which one I WISH could be mine...?)

After the pool, we headed to one of our favorite mexican food restaurants called Armandos, on El Paseo. It is such good food and any one who knows me knows that I am such for a sucker for a tasty crunchy chicken taco...

We had the best time talking and laughing and we really came away with an appreciation and gratefulness for each other, our friendship and our marriage. We are so thankful to have each other and I am so excited to celebrate many more years with this AMAZING man!

Kit Rae, I could not love you more... I really adore who you are and I am so thankful that 13 years ago you asked me to start this journey with you. Thank you for being my best friend and for living life with me!