Apple Yumminess!

Ok, so speaking of apples (see last post), I found a new recipe that is super yummy! 

(It comes from another one of Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swensen murder mysteries...I love those books!). Our neighbor Courtney and I made them on Monday night, and we all loved them! (Pete even had the brilliant idea to try putting a little caramel sauce over them, and that made them even better!)

APPLE ORCHARD BARS

-Prehat oven to 375 degrees-rack in middle position-

1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter

1/2 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

2 beaten eggs (beat them with a fork in a glass)

1/2 cup uncooked oatmeal (not the quick-cooking kind)

1 cup peeled and chopped apple (I used a little more)

2 cups flaked coconut

1-1/2 cups flour (not sifted)

Melt butter, add the sugars and stir. Add baking soda, salt, baking powder, vanilla, cinnamon, and beaten eggs. Mix well. Then add chopped apple and 1-1/2 cups flaked coconut (reserve 1/2 cup for on top). Add the flour and mix it all thoroughly.

Grease a 9x13" cake pan. Spoon the dough in and smooth it with a rubber spatula. Sprinkle the 1/2 cup coconut you reserved evenly on top.

Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until slightly browned on top.

Let cool and cut into bars like brownies. ENJOY!

Ok, yeah, yeah...we'd already eaten almost half the pan when I thought to take a photo...but this way you can see "inside":o)

Apple Pickin'

A group of us from church were supposed to go out apple picking last Thursday, but because of rain and cold, most of us backed out. I was super disappointed because I love apple picking (and I really wanted to get some photos for my next scrapbook design team assignment:o))...and Sunday was a beautiful day here in Boise, so I talked Pete into going apple picking that evening. We trekked out to Emmett (about 45 minutes away) to Tyler's Rocky Point Orchard and picked ourselves about 15 lbs of DELICIOUS apples...seriously delicious, as in old-fashioned red delicious and gold delicious (and only had to pay $6--what a BARGAIN!)

We also tried our hand at taking some family photos (via the camera's self-timer)!  We had a great time, and now I have a lot of apples to use up (I will soon be making lots of apple pie filling to freeze, and maybe some homemade apple sauce). 

This is the little orchard we went to.

Yeah, for clarification, he was making that face on purpose...:o)

Ellie power-lifting our bucket of apples.

The two kinds of apples we picked.

What a good little picker (and stretcher)!

YUM-MO!

Pete's idea of apple humor;o)

The only good family photo we got (meaning, the only one where Ellie's eyes weren't closed or hugely open and Pete wasn't sticking his tongue out)

(Red) DEEEE-Licious!

Skate Time!

Pete's mom (aka Nanny Carol) got Ellie some roller skates for her birthday, but they hadn't come by her birthday, so she brought them over this weekend, and Ellie was SO excited! I'm still not really sure why she wanted them...other than she said she saw some girl with some cool pink ones?!. Anyway...as soon as she opened them up, she wanted badly to go try them out, and so Nanny and I each took a side and tried to help her, but it was pretty bad...she was like a limp noodle, and seriously all over the place. But later she went out just with Nanny, and it worked much better, and she was doing great...even trying a few times on her own and doing pretty well. And by the 3rd test-run, she was doing awesome (that's when I took these photos). She's still practicing and improving, but I'm amazed and proud that she didn't get super frustrated right away and give up (which in the past has been her typical M.O.). 

So check out these super awesome skates....

And this cute little skater girl....

A Linder Farms Adventure

A couple weeks ago, Pete and I won some admission tickets to a local pumpkin patch/corn maze (a different one than the patch we usually go to). So last night we took Ellie there...we weren't sure we'd be able to go, because it's been so rainy and cold here in Boise, but last night there was no rain! It was really fun (although a little chilly and we didn't plan well, so I ended up giving Ellie my jacket and Pete gave me his and he froze:o) all in the name of keeping his "girls" warm and happy:o))))

First we went on a hay ride and picked out some pumpkins...

Ellie found a gourd, I found a nice little round pumpkin and Pete found a 50 pound giant! (see it on the truck to the back of me)

Then Ellie went on a swing ride that she LOVED!

And then she went on a fun "barrel ride".

Then we checked out the Baby Animal Petting Zoo...where we even got to feed the animals!

Feeding the baby goats!

Pete showing the lambs some love:o)

Look at that adorable piggy face!!

Pete giving the baby donkey some attention (when he wasn't getting the attention he wanted, he got really ornery and started hee-hawing really loudly---sounds like a human baby, huh?).

And here's the young (3 year old) camel...his name's Mojave, and he was super gentle and quite a good "poser" for my photo, don't ya think?

Then we decided to go check out the corn maze...and I realized once again that I have absolutely no sense of direction...thank heavens that Pete does!

Ellie was using the corn cob to pick off kernels so we could find our way back Hansel-and-Gretel style (yeah, it didn't work out so very well!:o))

Pete being goofy!!!

And before we left, we took some last minute photo ops...

It was a fun evening out together!!!

Ellie's 6th Birthday Weekend

We had a great weekend of celebrating Ellie's birthday! On Friday, she got to celebrate in her classroom...I brought some cupcakes and her teacher, Mrs. Conrado, gave her a special "Feliz Cumpleanos" (Happy Birthday in Spanish since she's in a Dual-Language classroom:o)) crown. She has a sweet little class of only 14 kiddos that I volunteer in at least twice a week. Here are some (not very good) photos...

On Saturday, we had two of Ellie's best friends (Grace and Gabi) come and spend the afternoon with us. I took the girls to a photo session at Target (the photos and a cute frame are their "goodies" from the party!) and then to an indoor play place called "Just Kid'N Around" where there were all sorts of fun things for the 3 girls to do! Then we brought them home for pizza, cake, presents and a movie! It was a fun day!!

Grace, Gabi and Ellie at "Just Kid'N Around"

Ellie and our 18 year old neighbor/friend Courtney (who came with me and was a big help with the girls) were enjoying their mango and peach smoothies!!

The girls in their party hats (Ellie and I made these on Friday--her idea!:o))

The first "dog" cake (dogs are the "It" thing in Ellie's life right now...

well actually, they have been for quite awhile now).

Love this photo!!!

Then on Sunday after church Pete's mom, Carol, (aka "Nanny") came over to celebrate with another cake and more presents. 

The second dog cake...WOW...that's A LOT of frosting!!!

Ellie's wearing the cute new shirt that Courtney got her the day before. And this photo is of one of the many gifts that Ellie opened...a Zooble playset that she had been wanting (it's from my mom and stepdad (aka Mimi and Papa Dan))! She was super excited!!!

Carol's super cute handmade card and gifts for Ellie....which included a "Tangled" cassette for her Leapster and a fun new game by Gamewright called "Match of the Penguins". "Nanny" mostly shops online for gifts, and a few of them hadn't come yet, so Ellie will also be getting a Spanish DVD and some new roller skates (not the blades, but the old-fashioned skates per her request:o)) next weekend.