you know it's fall

when apple pie is on the menu for dessert.
I was so proud of this crust with the decorative circles I cut out.  I also had a brainstorm to use some peanut butter in the crumb topping, because what dessert is complete without some peanut butter, well that and a glass of milk and some whipped topping.  So I subbed a half cup of peanut butter in place of the stick butter the recipe called for....mmmmmm....enough said!

sister love

Anna get a kick out of watching/listening to her big sister.  Maria loves to smooch Anna, and has to get a hug and kiss before she goes to bed.  When Anna wakes up from a nap Maria loves to come greet her..."Hi, Anna" and of course a hug and kiss.  She often talks to Anna telling her the same things she hears us say, especially if Anna is fussing or crying, she will say "oh, are you tired, it's okay, you want to go to bed?...you're okay."  We have a mini-mom on our hands!
We have plenty to praise God for; these girls LOVE each other.

it's official, we're homeowners

front view, we are on a corner lot.

back view, the screened in porch.

Grandma with the girls in the sunroom after a LONG day of cleaning...thanks mom!

Kitchen

Living room, we do have a lake view! (Don't you LOVE the picture over the fireplace?  So glad they left that for us! HA!)

#1 Bedroom- Maria chose this for the girls room, isn't that great two tone carpet??

Half bath in #2 bedroom

#2 bedroom for mom and dad

Main bath in hallway

Well, lots of you already know the whole story about us buying a house, but for those who don't...here goes.

We started looking over a year ago, in North Webster for a place to own.  Since we live in a parsonage and chances are we always will until retirement, we wanted to have something all our own now.  To be able to build equity and do with it as we see fit, without permission from the church trustees!  Also probably a good idea to not have money saved for a house sitting around when we need to send kids to college.  We may not like the FAFSA results telling us the girls don't get financial aid because of that.  Another big reason is to give the girls a home base as we inevitably move around with the ministry.

The 'neighborhood' where we purchased is called Epworth Forest and is on Lake Webster.  Also in this neighborhood is the high school Methodist church camp.  This area holds special significance for me as I attended church camp here all through high school, and accepted Christ during camp one summer.

All this to say, we now own a house.  We closed at the end of September and this weekend decided to head up to clean and move things in.  My mom met us Friday and we spent 6 hours cleaning.  We went back Saturday to move things in, since we didn't have anywhere to sleep overnight, and the carpets were wet from cleaning them.  Mom and Dad brought a truck and trailer full of  furniture to help make our empty house a bit more welcoming.  Now we have places to sit and beds for the girls!

We have plenty to praise God for; owning our own home.

chef time

Maria was so excited to get her very own apron and matching one for her doll, Honey.  Grandma sure is handy and creative.  Thanks, now she can do some real cooking for Mommy and Daddy.

Also, you can check out the flooring I got and installed in the basement playroom.  It was super easy and didn't cost too much either.  A friend had put it in her basement and inspired me to do so also.  Icarpetiles.com is where I got the Rainbow tiles as they call them(only $.49 a sq. foot), and it was just a matter of laying them out in the pattern I wanted and cutting to fit.  It only took me a couple days, and mainly because I only had a utility knife so cutting hurt my hand a bit.
We have plenty to praise God for; grandma's super sewing skills.

tummy time

She doesn't mind it too much, for at least the first few minutes she was even smiling.

Happy Birthday Little Brother

Not everyone is so lucky as to be blessed with a brother that they can also call a good friend.  I was 9 when you were born and often acted the part of mini mom.  I know at times you didn't appreciate my "mothering", but I loved being your big sister and watching out for you.  It is amazing to see you become a dad to your son.  I always knew you would be a great father and husband.  Have a great birthday and a wonderful year to come.  I love you.

Happy Birthday Big Sister

I have always looked up to you and admired you.  Thanks for always being a supportive, caring, involved sister. I love thinking ahead in anticipation of the relationship that is in store for the girls as their sister relationship develops.  I pray you have a special day and that your next year is full of blessings. I love you!

Friday, Saturday, Sunday vacation

Friday morning we were up, packed, house cleaned and out the door by 10:30.  We wanted to have a mid morning snack at the Grand Traverse Pie Company.  The three of us split a mini cherry pie with crumb topping.  They warmed it and even topped it with whip topping. Mmmm, what a good way to start the day.  We left Traverse City, and headed toward Midland, Michigan where Larry's Aunt Crystal and Uncle Art live.  We stayed with them till after church on Sunday.
Friday night we had dinner, and just stayed in.  Larry's cousin and her daughter came to visit.  Her daughter is just a will turn three this November, so she is just a bit older than Maria.  They had a good time playing once each got over their shyness.
Saturday we went over to the Dow Gardens.  Though the weather was a bit cool and overcast we enjoyed our time looking around the grounds there.  After dinner and the girls were in bed, we played cards that night.

It was a bit funny as Maria called them a mix of Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Crystal and Uncle Art, I think she was a bit confused having heard their granddaughter talking to them, but they thought it was fun anyway.
Sunday we headed to church and then back to their place to pack up.  After a quick bite to eat we were on the road.  The girls slept off and on, with Anna deciding she was done with vacation about 40 minutes from home, of course then she fell asleep the last 10 minutes of our drive.  Yes, it was a nice way to end the vacation.
Overall, the girls did great all vacation.  We had some rolling naps, skipped naps and a few grumpy moments.  Maria slept in a "big-girl" bed, at home she has a lower toddler bed.  She did great, rarely moving in her sleep at all.  Here at home you can find her in any number of strange positions.  Anna was up a bit earlier most mornings and up at night once or twice the last few nights, but not sure if she normally has some wake ups and we I just don't hear her( I don't use a monitor since she is just across the hall).  But now that we are back home, schedules seem to have resumed their normal pattern, so skipping naps and having some driving naps doesn't seem to have caused any harm.
We have plenty to praise God for; a safe, restful vacation that we all enjoyed.

Thursday vacation

Well, after Wednesday, I didn't take many pictures! We also didn't do as much, winding down our vacation. On Thursday we went back to downtown in search of a couple things. I thought a nice boat model would be fun to put together as a remembrance of our trip. Not $50 dollars worth though. We did find a nice glass cherry ornament to add to our Christmas tree this year. We also stopped in The Cherry Republic store they have downtown and sampled just about everything we could...mmm, chocolate covered cherries were my favorite.
We took a packed lunch with us and headed to the Children's Garden behind the Traverse City Public Library. Maria enjoyed walking through and exploring, and especially playing on the wooden train they had.
We also had to make a trek out to Moomer's Ice Cream. It was well worth the trip there. We tried the GMA's best scoop award winning Cherries Moobilee, Chocolate Peanut Butter Chunk and Maria had Peach. The store's signature flavor, Cherries Moobilee,is a rich mix of black cherry-flavored ice cream with chunks of black and red cherries(all from the local area), chocolate fudge swirl and chunks of homemade brownies. It was delicious!
That evening of course we hit the beach again.
Here is a video of Maria enjoying the beach! I think it is safe to say she had a great vacation.


And here is a video of the newest Anna thing from vacation. She sucks in her bottom lip and make funny sounds and has the hiccups! We love each new stage with her.

Even more Wednesday vacation

Yes, I told you Wednesday was a long day.

After we got back from our road trip all day we headed to the beach for a bit before bedtime.

Maria was so free tonight, just running and enjoying the sand, sun, water, and wind.  There were rarely many other people.  Often there were a few other kids at the playground and a small number of couples sitting around enjoying the sun setting.

It was a rather windy evening, so the amount of sailboats out was significantly higher than any other night we had been there.

It was thrilling to see them drop the sail as they turned the boat.

Love the seagull I caught midflight on this one...you have to click it larger to see him.

Wednesday vacation continued

After we left the dunes we drove further north to the town of Leland and the historic Fishtown.  We had an okay, but overpriced lunch at The Bluebird, famous for it's Whitefish.

We looked around the shops, checked out some boats, found Maria a souvenir, Wikki Stixs, which she had seen in a magazine and wanted a while back, although she must have thought they were something to eat, because once we purchased them she asked when she could eat them??  We also got a treat, a candy necklace for Maria, which she could eat, at a candy store and then made our way back toward Traverse City.

A lady, who works at the Marina I believe, offered to take our picture, without us even asking.  But as you can see Maria is not fond of having her picture posed lately.  She appears to be asleep, but is really just avoiding the camera, what a goofy girl.

Wednesday vacation

Wednesday was our longest day as we took a drive west to Sleeping Bear Dunes State Park.  The weather was a bit gloomy and we wondered if we would get some rain, but mainly it was just foggy and misty.

With the girls we decided not to try and tackle too much hiking, but were advised that the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive was quite nice.  And we agree!

 Walking the Dune Overlook trail, which is part of the Scenic Drive.  Woah, is that steep!

I just loved the windswept sand and the images that it created.

God's amazing creation never ceases to take my breath away.

Me and the girls, yep, Anna is there...look for her hand and her ever present burp cloth.

see told you!  Maria was trying to get Anna to look at the camera...yeah, how's that working for you?

What a good little traveler she was.

Maria had such a great time the whole week really, but especially on this day, just exploring, loving the sand.

We have plenty to praise God for; his magnificent creation for us to enjoy.
Wed. to be continued.