End of September....

I can't believe it's the end of September.

Fall is here

I love the fall of the year.....the cool temps, the colors, smells, comfort cooking and the 3 big holidays ...... Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas!

Things are getting busy......I'm taking a photoshop class once a week and that's fun.

I'm getting some more photo jobs. Just finished 2 seniors and now I have a big family shoot in October! I sure do love photographing people.

And sunsets in the fall....they are pretty great!



later.....

Apple Cake recipe......

If you plan on cooking anything with apples this fall...you must try this one!

It is by far the very best apple cake recipe you will ever have, your family will love you, everyone will request this for family gatherings, church suppers, parties...oh wait, it could end up being a lot of work to you :)

seriously, it's wonderful..give it a try

Sift together........

3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
and set aside...


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


Beat together for 3 minutes.......

3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cup veg oil


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


Gradually stir in sifted dry ingredients, fold in 3 cups chopped apples, 1 cup chopped walnuts and 2 tsp vanilla
Pour batter into greased tube pan and bake @ 350 for 1 hour and 15 min.


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


In a saucepan melt..........
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 stick of butter


combine in a saucepan and bring to a boil.....let slow boil for 3 minutes


Pour topping over cake as soon as it comes out of the oven. Use a knife along the edges so the gooey goodness can flow down the sides..mmm.  Let cool, loosen sides and invert on a plate then invert on another plate topping side up.

this is really, really good!!

later.....

Last week..Part 5....

The last thing we did for our vacation with our family was head to the mountains. We love going to Carters Mountain and picking apples...and then going into Charlottesville for lunch.



JC, Jake and Bucky....ready to pick apples!

Tyler and Gabe are ready too!



What a beautiful view.....

ok really, I think I look a little too excited huh? haha

I think the orchards are so beautiful...

Bucky and his mom



There's Shay, Johnny, Maddox and Nicole.

Jacquelyn



Jake and Tyler...

JC and Melissa



Bob, Shay and Townley

Jake even climbed the trees for us to get the bigger apples that were on top.

I'll post pics from Ch'ville tomorrow

later.......



Last week part 4.....

We started our Saturday by walking up to the entrance of our neighborhood for the Glen Allen Day Parade. We are a suburb of a large city but where we live, it's a very small town feel. And every fall, they have a small parade for about 1/2 mile and then it ends at the neighborhood park where they have booths of fun stuff for the kids and stuff. We fixed breakfast casserole for everyone and then walked up to watch the parade.



Even Chrissy enjoyed the parade.....and didn't bark at anyone!

I love hearing the high school marching band!

Looks like Jake is enjoying the parade.......

Jacquelyn and JC

this is the All Star gym that Jacquelyn used to cheer with...

Of course they had some scary stuff since we're getting close to Halloween!

I had to step back and cover Chrissy's ears when the fire trucks came by...I guess the sirens hurt her little ears.

here's the whole gang.....we walked back to the house and loaded up in the cars to head to the mountains! I'll post those pics tomorrow.

later.......

This past week part 3.....

We returned home from the beach on Thursday evening.....

just in enough time for me to take a quick shower and drink a cup of coffee before heading to my Photoshop class.

Turns out everything taught on that first day I already knew....hmph, could have missed that one!

So Friday we just rested up, did some laundry, and cooked out on the grill.

A lazy evening but one that we needed.

Early to bed as we were getting up early on Saturday for the Glen Allen Day parade and then heading to the mountains.

more on that in the next post

later.....

This past week part 2.....

After resting up on Monday we woke early Tuesday to head down to the Outer Banks...aka..the best place on earth!

My SIL's have been there before but Bob had never been. It's always so much fun to take someone who has never gone there.

here's Johnny and his sister Dee at the hotel

Shay and Bob

Johnny and Jane drinking oyster shooters at Awful Arthur's raw bar...one of our fav raw bars down there.

Johnny fixing the cooler up before we head down to the beach.

it's Pirate week down at the beach....

and look, Jane found one to hang out with!!

I love that they never mind me taking pictures...haha!!

and that's it...we only stayed at the beach 3 days and I just didn't take many pictures at all.

I'll post more of our week tomorrow.

later.......

This past week...

This past week has been a lot of fun!

Johnny's sister Dee and her partner Jane have been here from Atlanta.

His other sister Shay and her husband Bob have been here from Texas!

It's been great

we started the week with Jacquelyn's engagement party.

Then Monday was our day of rest.....clean up and laundry!!

Monday night we went to a local restaurant for a gathering of Dee and Shay's classmates from St Patricks.

Jake even went and hung out with us old folks!!

Jane and Johnny

Johnny, Jake and Johnny's sister from Texas Shay

More of our week in tomorrow's post

later......

The engagement party.....

We hosted the engagement party for our daughter yesterday. The weather turned out perfect....whew!!!

the guest, the food, the fun....everything went off without a hitch.

I even got through my toast without crying!

Unfortunatley between filling food dishes and trying to visit with everyone I did not take very many pictures at all.

here are some of the details....

we've been resting and cleaning up today and now off to the beach tomorrow. I can't even tell you how much I am enjoying my family from Georgia and Texas being here!! I'll post more pics when we get back.

later......

Engagement party...

the engagement party we are throwing for our daughter Jacquelyn is this weekend. We are expecting 54 people! And really praying it doesn't rain!

I'm so excited as this is our first wedding "event"!

Since she is getting married at the beach, I decided to decorate the table with starfish as that is what is on her save the date cards. And yes, it's only Wed and I'm already getting things on the table! haha....I have to so I can figure out the setting and the food. Does anyone else do that?

I also decided to use only silver and clear glass for the table. here's a few pics...

I love how the save the date cards turned out.

later........